this website is very useful relating pakistan's relations with its neighbours..
Free Essays on Pakistan Relation With Neighbouring Countries | 1 through 30

this document is useful
http://www.gordonfn.org/resfiles/sid...k%20final2.pdf

its about pakistan's relationship with Afghanistan

http://ipripak.org/factfiles/ff70.pdf
its about pakistan's role in world peace..

CAIRO (AP) — When Egypt's police melted from the streets of Cairo this weekend, the people stepped in.
Civilians armed with knives, axes, golf clubs, firebombs, metal bars and makeshift spears watched over many neighborhoods in the sprawling capital of 18 million people this weekend, defending their families and homes against widespread looting and lawlessness.
The thugs had exploited the chaos created by the largest anti-government protests in decades and the military failed to fill the vacuum left by police.
On Saturday, the army sent out an appeal for citizens to help.
“The military encourages neighborhood youth to defend their property and their honor,” it said in a statement.
On Sunday, joint teams of civilians and military were patrolling, some with guard dogs.
Mohammed Gafaar, a 34-year old salesman in the Nasr City area, said his neighborhood watch organized soon after the night curfew went into force at 4 p.m. They did it at the behest of residents, who appealed for protection of their property, sending out the call from the local mosque.
“I feel betrayed by the police,” said Mr. Gaafar, who had carried rocks, a stick and a Molotov cocktail in a soda bottle. “They have to be tried for the protesters they killed and for their treason. They left the country to be looted. I am angry at the regime.”
Akram al-Sharif, a 33-year old Cairo resident who lives in one of the affluent compounds in the city’s west at the edge of the desert, said locals hired 20 Bedouins with guns and organized into groups to protect the five gates of the compound.
“I am happy this is happening. There was solidarity,” he said, but he criticized the military for failing to protect private property
The troubles began after days of protests calling for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak reached a crescendo Friday, when tens of thousands poured into the streets after noon prayers in the city’s 3,000 mosques. The protests quickly spiraled into clashes with riot police, who fired countless canisters of tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons and beat the demonstrators with sticks.
By Friday night, protesters had set fire to the ruling party headquarters along the Nile in central Cairo and the first reports of looting emerged — people making off with electric fans and televisions from the burning complex. Mr. Mubarak ordered the military into the streets for the first time to try to control the escalating turmoil.
On Saturday, the tens of thousands of police who normally patrol the streets vanished. Security officials, asked why they disappeared, said that remained unclear. But the police, who are hated by many, may have been seen as just fanning the flames.
Throughout the day, shops and malls were ransacked and burned, and residents of affluent neighborhoods began reporting burglaries by gangs of thugs roaming the streets with knives and guns. By midafternoon, shopowners and residents were boarding up their stores and houses.
Gangs of armed men attacked jails, sending thousands of inmates into the unpoliced streets.
As night fell, the neighborhood watches took up where the police left off.
In the affluent neighborhood of Zamalek, where many foreigners live and embassies are located, groups of young men, some as large as 40 people, set up barricades on every street entrance to the island in the middle of the Nile.
In other neighborhoods, residents wore arm bands to identify one another and prevent infiltrators from coming into their midst. In Zamalek, a handwritten announcement hanging on a street window asked people to register their names for neighborhood defense committees.
Watch groups armed themselves with a makeshift arsenal of shovels, baseball bats, whips and the occasional shotgun. Young men organized themselves into shifts, and locals brought tea and other snacks.
“We have these firebombs, just in case,” said Amm Saleh, the doorman of a building in Zamalek. “Some of these thugs are armed with knives and guns, so we have to be able to defend ourselves,” he added, showing off a line of kerosene-filled bottles with paper wicks ready for action.
Neighborhood guardians set up metal barricades and stopped cars, questioning them about their destinations and street addresses and sometimes searching them. With many roads blocked, drivers went the wrong way on largely empty one-way streets to get around.
Long after midnight, gunshots rang out on a scenic street along the Nile, near the Indian Embassy and the Algerian ambassador’s residence. One youth said the neighborhood watch confronted the passengers of a car, one with a firearm, and persuaded them to leave.
Residents said they were filled with pride to see Egyptians looking out for one another in a society where many, if not most, struggle just to subsist.
Mr. Gaafar, the salesman, earlier returned from Dubai to take part in the protests. He said he feels sad at how things turned out, but he believes it won’t deter people from continuing to protest.
“This has brought out the best in people,” he said. “There were people who were much younger than me who have never come across gunfire before. … They looked scared, but they were still standing. Everyone was so brave.”
As the curfew began at 4 p.m. Sunday, police were seen returning to some neighborhoods and working in tandem with the army to try to restore a sense of security.
Associated Press reporter Sarah El Deeb contributed to this report from Cairo.

@SAMRA good idea

lets starts with International Org

North Atlantic Treaty Organizations (NATO)

Headquarters: Brussels (Belgium)

4 Apr 1949--- The North Atlantic Treaty is signed in Washington.
24 Aug 1949----North Atlantic Treaty Organization established.
11 Jan 1994-----Partnership for Peace (PFP) with former Soviet states and Eastern European nations created.

Secretary-general
1 Aug 2009 - Anders Fogh Rasmussen (Denmark)
NATO Membership ---(28)

Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC)

OIC website Headquarters: Jeddah
(Saudi Arabia) OIC Day: 25 Sep (1969)
Organization of the Islamic Conference Day

25 Sep 1969--------Organization of the Islamic Conference founded.
4 Mar 1972 -----OIC Charter signed (effective 28 Feb 1973).

Secretary-general
1 Jan 2005 - Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu (Turkey)

OIC membership (57)

__________________
Aalam-e-soz o saz main, wasl se barh ker hai firaaq
Hijr me lazt-e-talb, wasl main marg-e-arzoo...!!!

All css 2012 aspirants are cordially invited to contribute to this thread..lets first of all prepare the syllabus contents..
1.Pakistan's relations with its neighbours
2.pakistan's relations with Middle Eastern,African and far Eastern Countries
3.Pakistan's Relations with big Powrs
lets first of all discuss thes 3 contents..with the passage of time we will discuss discuss the current issues.hows that???

__________________
consistency is key to success.

good idea...i m with you..but how to start...?

__________________
Regards,
~ Riz ~

take topics one by one and post relevant material relating that topic..suppose we goingat to discuss Pak india Relationship at first place so we should focus on the historical backgroud...ups and downs of pak india relationship since independence and so on..

__________________
consistency is key to success.

India-Pakistan Relations: A 50-Year History

By Donald Johnson

Shortly after 3:45 PM on May 11, 1998 at Pokhran, a desert site in the Indian state of Rajisthan, groups of local Bishnoi herders--whose customs forbid killing animals or cutting trees--heard a huge explosion, and watched in amazement as an enormous dust cloud floated in the sky. What the Indian farmers did not realize, but the diplomats in Washington and around the world soon grasped, was the fact that India had just joined the United States, Russia, England, France and China as the newest member of the nuclear club. On that warm May afternoon, Indian nuclear scientists successfully exploded three atomic devices amounting to about six times the destructive power of the American bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. The next day, as the world tried to absorb the frightening news, India ignited two more nuclear explosions.



Even as ninety percent of Indians applauded then-Prime Minister Vajpayee's decision to go nuclear, then-U.S. President Clinton immediately reacted to the explosions with shock and criticized India's nuclear testing. The American President argued that India’s actions violated the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty endorsed by 149 nations and the 1970 non-proliferation treaty signed by 185 nations. Despite the fact that neither India nor Pakistan has signed the treaties, the President, citing the 1994 Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Act, immediately called for economic sanctions against India including cutting off $40 million in economic and military aid, and all American bank loans. The President also asked the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to cancel all new loans which could cost India around $14.5 billion worth of public projects, including a major modernization of India's often failing electrical system. Moreover, Japan and other industrial nations soon followed the U.S. example and froze on-going projects in India worth over a billion dollars in aid.

Pakistan Responds
As the five nuclear powers, all permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, discussed ways to punish India as well as ways to prevent Pakistan from testing its own nuclear devices, the leaders of Pakistan were busily moving forward with their own nuclear plans.

On May 28th, Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan's prime minister at that time, announced that following India's lead, Pakistan had successfully exploded five "nuclear devices." Not content to equal India's five tests, Pakistan proceeded on May 30th to explode yet a sixth device and at the same time the Prime Minister announced that his government would soon be able to launch nuclear war heads on missiles.

Both President Clinton and a majority of the world community condemned Pakistan's nuclear testing, although China was much less harsh in its criticism of Pakistan, its close ally. Following the sanctions policy after India's tests, the United States, Japan, Britain, Canada and Germany ended their aid to Pakistan and asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank to place a moratorium on loans to Pakistan. However, despite President Clinton's wish to impose a world-wide system of economic sanctions on India and Pakistan, a vast majority of western nations have refused to join the effort.

The Story Behind the Headlines
Despite the seeming suddenness of India's and Pakistan's decisions to test nuclear devices and in so doing seek to join the other five world nuclear nations, the headlines following the explosions "heard round the world," had a fifty-year history.

Since their independence as new nations in 1947, India and Pakistan have followed a path of mutual animosity. Pakistan was created as a national homeland for the Muslim-majority areas of the subcontinent, while India proposed to become a secular nation that included about 85 percent Hindus, but also more than ten percent Muslims as well as large numbers of Sikhs, Christians and members of other religions.

Soon after the partition of the sub-continent into the two nations, about 17 million people fled their homes and journeyed to either Pakistan or India. In one of the largest exchanges of populations in history, violence soon broke out with Muslims on one side and Sikhs and Hindus on the other. The resulting blood shed in the Punjab and West Bengal regions left more than one million people dead in its wake.

In the midst of this refugee movement and open violence, the governments of India and Pakistan hastily tried to divide the assets of British India between the two new countries. From weapons and money, down to paper clips and archaeological treasures, all had to be divided.

The British had left behind, besides about half of the subcontinent that it directly governed, some 562 independent or "princely" states. The provision was that each state could remain independent, join Pakistan or accede to India. A violent competition soon resulted as the two new nations sought to win to their own nations the largest and most strategically located states, such as Hyderabad and Kashmir. Because Kashmir was more than 70% Muslim, Pakistan insisted that a vote be taken in the state. However, India argued, since the Maharaja of Kashmir was Hindu, he had right to take the state into India. Even as independence was being celebrated, India and Pakistan began a covert war in Kashmir and the struggle for that state still goes on today.

In 1947, 1965 and 1971 India and Pakistan fought wars that did not change the status of Kashmir, but did result in the 1971 further partition of West and East Pakistan into the two nations of Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Not only did the architects of Indian foreign policy fear Pakistan, but in 1962, after China's sudden invasion of northeast India, they suddenly realized the ancient protection of the Himalayan Mountains had vanished. India now would have to build sufficient military power to protect itself from both Pakistan and China, the largest country in the world and a major military power armed with nuclear weapons.

Soon after the China war of 1962, Indian scientists began developing its nuclear capability. Under Indira Gandhi's Prime Ministership in 1974, India successfully exploded a nuclear device, announcing to the world its scientific capacity to develop nuclear bombs.

Because of the strong world opinion against nuclear testing, India did not undertake additional nuclear testing until May, 1998. However, this fourteen-year moratorium on nuclear testing did not mean Indian scientists and political leaders were not planning to join the nuclear club.
India in the 1990s: the Moratorium Ends
Although Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi reversed his mother's policy of nuclear development, when a new prime minister Narasimha Rao assumed power in 1991, India resumed its plans for nuclear development and in December, 1995, Rao was ready to authorize a nuclear test--only to be discovered by CIA spy satellite and discouraged by President Clinton from going forward with the tests. With the election of the Hindu Nationalist, Bharata Janata Party in 1998, Prime Minister Atal Vajpayee ordered Indian scientists to proceed with plans for testing as soon as possible. This lead to the series of detonations in May, and the subsequent quick response by Pakistan.

Foreign Policy Relations
The United States has treaties which provide nuclear umbrella to Japan and NATO nations. At present, the United States has cordial relations with China. American policy is worked out in tension between those who insist on expanded human rights in China, and those who favor opening markets and investments in China and downplaying human rights issues. The United States was closely allied with Pakistan until end of Cold War. Pakistan provided bases for U-2 flights and conduit for arms to Afghanistan rebels. The United States provided most of Pakistani military aid from 1954 to the 1980s. China is now the major military supplier to Pakistan. The United States has maintained cool relations with India because of its refusal to join the west during the Cold War, its pursuit of a non-alignment foreign policy and for its tight controls on American investment and business enterprise in India.

China is the premier military power in Asia and considers Pakistan its oldest and most powerful Asian ally. China continues to occupy areas inside of India's borders as a result of the Indo-China war of 1962. China has nuclear-armed missiles positioned against India along the Himalayan border and in Tibet, in addition to being Pakistan’s main military weapons provider.

Russia has had close relations with India since Indira Gandhi became prime minister in 1966. Russia provides most of India's military sales. After the demise of the Soviet Empire, Russia is unable to provide economic or military aid to India.

India has pursued a policy of non-alignment with Soviet Union and United States since its independence. India's planned economy was not open to U.S. investment until change of policy toward free market in 1991. India would not accept American military aid or join alliances, thus alienating U.S. leaders and majority of Americans. Under President Kennedy, the United States supported India in its war with China. Under Nixon, the United States supported Pakistan in 1971 in the war that led to creation of Bangladesh (the former East Pakistan). America sent a nuclear-armed aircraft carrier to Bay of Bengal, which helped motivate India to go nuclear. Now that Russia is weak, India feels isolated and alone in world community. India has felt that the United States has also been hostile to India and that we now are promoting China as the major power in all of Asia. Pakistani testing of Gauri missile on April 6th, 1998 was a major factor in India's decision to undertake nuclear testing. India will suffer from the end of economic aid, but its leaders have calculated that that the nation can survive the sanctions.

Pakistan relied on its close alliance with the United States from 1954 through the 1980s. During the 1990s, leaders looked more to China for support and military technology and hardware; China is currently a major supplier of these components to Pakistan. The Pakistani foreign minister traveled to China for consultations ten days before Pakistan conducted nuclear tests. Pakistan will suffer far more than India as a result of economic sanctions by world community. Loss of aid will result in undermining of currency, great increase in debt and increase in poverty

__________________
consistency is key to success.

India-Pakistan Relations: A 50-Year History


In the hunt for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan and Pakistan in early 2002, U.S. relations with Pakistan and its leader, President General Pervez Musharraf, improved, which further aggravated India-Pakistan relations. While economic sanctions were lifted, Pakistani militants staged several attacks and bombings; in one occassion, targeted Indian and Kashmiri legislatures. The United States feared possible nuclear retaliation and advised Americans to evacuate both South Asian countries.

Today, U.S. relations with India and Pakistan are strong. In March 2006, when U.S. President George W. Bush visited South Asia, he remarked that we "are now united by opportunities that can lift our people." In India, he commented that "The United States and India, separated by half the globe, are closer than ever before, and the partnership between our free nations has the power to transform the world."

Positions of World Leaders on India and Pakistan Nuclear Testing
Below are quotes from some of the major political figures and leaders in 1998, garnered from a variety of sources, from several countries that are most involved with the issue of India and Pakistan's recent nuclear tests.



Indian Prime Minister Atal Vajpayee
The [non proliferation] treaties are discriminatory and hypocritical. Our hope is that those nations that want to continue their nuclear monopoly will accept that the same rules should apply to all. (Boston Globe, May 29, 1998)

Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes
China is India's number-one threat. It is encircling India with missile and naval deployments of suspicious intent. (TIME Magazine, May 25, 1998)

Bal Thackeray, Nationalist Leader from Bombay
We have to prove that we are not eunuchs. (TIME, ibid.)

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
Today we have evened the score with India....I would like to again assure all countries that our nuclear weapons systems are meant only for self-defense.... (New York Times, May 30, 1998)

Chinese official statements
Having signed the nuclear Test Ban treaty in 1995, we have been consistently opposed to nuclear tests. We knew there was a great possibility that Pakistan would follow [India's testing] because of the internal pressure its leaders face. But this is a rather difficult situation for China. We have a friendship with Pakistan, but we still have a strong stance against nuclear proliferation. (TIME, ibid.)

The United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan
This [India's and Pakistan's nuclear tests] is a step backward. The world needs fewer nuclear powers, not more of them. But the problem goes beyond India--I'm calling on India and Pakistan to sign the nuclear test-ban treaty before this problem spins out of control. (TIME, ibid.)

Russian President Boris Yeltsin
India is frankly a close friend of ours, and we enjoy very good relations. Their testing of a nuclear weapon was a great surprise. And when my visit to India takes place this year, I will do my utmost to somehow settle this problem. (TIME, ibid.)

U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ)
The recent testing by India and Pakistan bring the world closer to a nuclear confrontation than at any time since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. (Boston Globe, May, 1998)

U.S. President Clinton
To try to manifest your greatness by detonating atomic bombs when everybody else is trying to leave the nuclear age behind is just wrong. India and Pakistan must give up their arms race--a self-defeating cycle of escalation. (New York Times, May 13, 1998)

Former head of the International Energy Agency Hans Blix
India is a great civilization, but that is not enough. They do not feel that they were treated as though they were in the same league [as the permanent five nations on the U.N. Security Council]. One could ask if the outside world could have satisfied India’s wish to be considered a great power in a different manner. Are nuclear bombs the only way to assert greatness? (May 1998)
Facts: Nations with Nuclear Weapons
The following nations possess nuclear weapons, have carried out tests and have missiles to deliver nuclear warheads.


United States (pop. about 268 million), 1,030 tests since 1944. Now has 12,070 nuclear warheads. Missiles with range of 8,100 miles can reach anywhere in the world.
Britain (pop. about 59.1 million), 45 tests since 1952. Has 380 warheads. Missiles have range of 7,500 miles.
France (pop. about 58.8 million), 21 tests since 1961, most recent tests 1995, 1996. Now has 500 warheads. Missile range 3,300 miles.
Russia (pop. about 146.9 million), 715 tests since 1945. Has 22,500 warheads. Missile range 6,800 miles.
China (pop. about 1 billion, 300 million), 45 tests since 1964. Has 450 warheads. Missile range 6,800 miles. Has nuclear armed missiles directed at Indian cities in Tibet and Himalayan border.
Israel (pop about 6 million), no tests, but has more than a hundred warheads. Missile range 930 miles.
India (pop. about 988.7 million), six tests since 1974. Has about 65 warheads. Missiles named Prithvi has range of 1,550 miles. Presently developing Agni missile similar to Pakistan Gauri missile.
Pakistan, (pop about 141.9 million), began nuclear program in 1972. Now has about 15-25 warheads. Missile range 930 miles. Has received technology and missiles from China.

More Facts and Stats

Percentage of national spending on defense: Pakistan 25%, India 14%
Size of armed forces: Pakistan 600,000; India 1.2 million, China over 2 million.

Size of Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests:


India, May 11th - 25-30 kilotons of TNT. Magnitude of 5.3 on seismometer
Pakistan, May 28 - 8-15 kilotons of TNT, Magnitude of 4.8 on seismometer

__________________
consistency is key to success.

Pakistan's Relation with India

Since partition of the sub-continent in 1947, relations between Pakistan and India have been characterized by rivalry and suspicion. The animosity has its roots in religion and history, and is epitomized by the long-running conflict over the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Historical Background
The Indian Sub Continent was partitioned into Hindu-dominated India and the newly created Muslim state of Pakistan after India's independence from Great Britain in 1947. Severe rioting and population movement ensued and an estimated half a million people were killed in communal violence. About a million people were left homeless. Since partition, the territory of Jammu and Kashmir has remained in dispute with Pakistan and India both holding sectors.

First Indo-Pakistan War 1947-49
At the time of partition, the princely state of Kashmir, though ruled by a Hindu Maharaja, had an overwhelmingly Muslim population. When the Maharaja hesitated in acceding to either Pakistan or India in 1947, some of his Muslim subjects, aided by tribesmen from Pakistan, revolted in favor of joining Pakistan.
The first Indo-Pakistan war started after armed tribesmen from Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province invaded Kashmir in October 1947. Besieged both by a revolt n his state and by the invasion, the Maharaja requested armed assistance from the Government of India. In return he acceded to India, handling over powers of defense, communication and foreign affairs. Both India and Pakistan agreed that the accession would be confirmed by a referendum once hostilities had ceased. In May 1948, the regular Pakistani army was called upon to protect Pakistan's borders. Fighting continued throughout the year between Pakistani irregular troops and the Indian army. The war ended on 1st January 1949 when a ceasefire was arranged by the United Nations which recommended that both India and Pakistan should adhere to their commitment to hold a referendum in the state. A ceasefire line was established where the two sides stopped fighting and a UN peacekeeping force established. The referendum, however has never been held.

The 1965 War
In April 1965, a clash between border patrols erupted into fighting in the Rann of Kutch, a sparsely inhabited region along the south-western Indo-Pakistan border. When the Indians withdrew, Pakistan claimed victory. Later full-scale hostilites erupted in September 1965, when India alleged that insurgents trained and supplied by Pakistan were operating in India-controlled Kashmir. Hostilities ceased three weaks later, following mediation efforts by the UN and interested countries. In January 1966, Indian and Pakistani representatives met in Tashkent, U.S.S.R., and agreed to attempt a peaceful settlement of Kashmir and their other differences.

The 1971 War Indo-Pakistani relations deteriorated again when civil war erupted in Pakistan, pitting the West Pakistan army against East Pakistanis demanding autonomy and independence. In December India invaded East Pakistan in support of the East Pakistani people. The Pakistani army surrendered at Dhaka and its army of more than 90,000 became India prisoners of war. East Pakistan became the independent country of Bangladesh on 6th December 1971.

Indian Troops and Siachen Glacier 1984
India's nuclear test in 1974 generated great uncertainty in Pakistan and is generally acknowledged to have been the impetus for Pakistan's nuclear weapons development program. In 1983, the Pakistani and Indian governments accused each other of aiding separatists in their respective countries, i.e., Sikhs in India's Punjab state and Sindhis in Pakistan's Sindh province. In April 1984, tensions erupted after troops were deployed to the Siachen Glacier, a high-altitude desolate area close to the China border left undemarcated by the cease-fire agreement (Karachi Agreement) signed by Pakistan and India in 1949.
Tensions diminished after Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister in November 1984 and after a group of Sikh hijackers was brought to trial by Pakistan in March 1985. In December 1985, President Zia and Prime Minister Gandhi pledged not to attack each other's nuclear facilities. In early 1986, the Indian and Pakistani governments began high-level talks to resolve the Siachen Glacier border dispute and to improve trade.

Kashmir Insurgency 1990
Bilateral tensions increased in early 1990, when Kashmiri militants began a compaign of violence against Indian Government authority in Jammu and Kashmir. Subsequent high-level bilateral meetings relieved the tensions between India and Pakistan, but relations worsened again after the destruction of the Ayodhya Masjid by Hindu extremists in December 1992 and terrorists bombings in Bombay in March 1993. Talks between the Foreign Secretaries of both countries in January 1994 resulted in deadlock.

Diplomatic Push 1996-97
In the last several years, the Indo-Pakistani relationship has veered sharply between rapprochement and conflict. After taking office in February 1997, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif moved to resume official dialogue with India. A number of meetings at the foreign secretary and Prime Ministerial level took place with positive atmospherics but little concrete progress. In a speech at the UN, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif offered to open talks on a non-aggression pact with India, proposing that both nations strike a deal to restrain their nuclear and missile capabilities.
Nuclear Rivalry 1998
The arms race between the rivals escalated dramatically in the 1990s. In May 1998, India conducted underground nuclear tests in the western desert state of Rajasthan near the border with Pakistan. In response, Pakistan conducted six tests in Balochistan. In the same year, Pakistan test its longest range missile, the 1,500 km (932 mile) Ghauri missile, named after the 12th Century Muslim warrior who conquered part of India. Both sides were heavily criticized by the international community for the tests as fears of a nuclear confrontation grew.
The United States ordered sanctions against both countries, freezing more than $20bn of aid, loans and trade. Japan ordered a block on about $1bn of aid loans. Several European countries followed suit, and the G-8 governments imposed a ban on non-humanitarian loans to India and Pakistan. The UN Security Council condemned India and Pakistan for carrying out nuclear tests and urged the two nations to stop all nuclear weapons programmes.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Vajpayee Visit to Pakistan 1999
The relationship improved markedly when Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee traveled to Lahore for a summit with Sharif in February 1999. There was considerable hope that the meeting could lead to a breakthrough. They signed the Lahore accord pledging again to "intensify their efforts to resolve all issues, including the issue of Jammu and Kashmir."

Kargil Conflict 1999
Unfortunately, in May 1999 India launched air strikes against Pakistani backed forces that had infiltrated into the mountains in Indian-administrated Kashmir, north of Kargil. Pakistan responded by occupying positions on the Indian side of the Line of Control in the remote, mountainous area of Kashmir near Kargil threatening the ability of India to supply its forces on Siachen Glacier. By early summer, serious fighting flared in the Kargil sector. The infiltrators withdrew following a meeting between Prime Minister Sharif and President Bill Clinton in July. Relations between India nad Pakistan have since been particularly strained, especially since the October 12, 1999 coup in Islamabad.

The Brink of War 2001
Tension along the ceasefire lined continued. The worst fighting for more than a year broke out in October as India, which continued to condemn Pakistan for cross-border terrorism, started shelling Pakistani military positions. October saw a devastating attack on the Kashmiri assembly in Srinagar in which 38 people were killed. After the attack, the Chief Minister of Indian-administrated Kashmir, Farooque Abdullah called on Indian Government to launch a war against militant training camps across the border in Pakistan.
On 13th December, an armed attack on the Indian Parliament in Delhi left 14 people dead. India again blamed Pakistani-backed Kashmiri militants. The attack led to a dramatic build-up of troops along the Indo-Pakistan border, military exchanges and raised fears of a wider conflict. Rail and bus services between the two countries were also blocked.

Relaxation of Tension 2003
A relaxation of tension began in 2003, when then Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee called for a dialogue. Rail and bus services between the two countries resumed, and the two countries agreed to a ceasefire in Kashmir.

Summit Talks 2004
Twelfth SAARC Summit was held in Islamabad in January 2004. On this occasion President Parvez Musharraf met Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on 5th January 2004. In this summit talk India and Pakistan resumed comprehensive discussions with an agenda the included the Kashmir problem, confidence-building measures, and ways to provide security against terrorism.

No War Pact 2004
These comprehensive consultations have steadily built up trust, resulting in agreements to continue the suspension of nuclear tests, to give prior notification of missile tests, and to seek a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir problem. On June 20, 2004, both countries signed "No War Pact" and agreed to extend a nuclear testing ban and to set up a hotline between their foreign secretaries aimed at preventing misunderstandings that might lead to a nuclear war.

Musharraf's Unofficial Visit to India 2005 In April 2005 President Parvez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreed on various new confidence-building measures between the two nations. Their talks, held during Mr. Musharraf's unofficial visit to India on April 17, produced agreement, for example, on the passage of trucks for commercial purposes over Kashmir's Line of Control, or ceasefire line. This is expected to greatly help ease tensions between the countries.
The improvement of relations between India and Pakistan still involves uncertain factors such as the activities of Islamic extremists, but efforts should be stepped up so that the latest summit can serve as a favorable tail wind for accelerating the thaw between the two nations.

__________________
consistency is key to success.

The Pakistan - US Relationship