Tensions are running high between India and Pakistan after Pakistani militants attacked Mumbai in one of the worst terrorist attacks on Indian soil. The following are some of the highs and lows in relations between the neighbours:

1947 Britain divides its Indian empire into secular but mainly Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan, triggering one of the greatest and bloodiest migrations of modern history.

1947/48 India and Pakistan go to their first war over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. The war ended with a UN-ordered ceasefire and resolution, seeking a plebiscite for the people of Jammu and Kashmir to decide whether to become part of India or Pakistan.

1965 India and Pakistan go to war over Kashmir. Fighting ends after United Nations calls for ceasefire.

1971 Pakistan and India go to war a third time over East Pakistan, which became independent Bangladesh.

1972 Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi sign agreement in Simla to lay principles meant to govern relations.

1974 India detonates its first nuclear device.

1990 Indian Army opens fire in Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar during protest against crackdown on separatism, killing 38 and spurring a revolt. India accuses Pakistan of arming and sending Islamist militants into Indian Kashmir.

1998, May India carries out five underground nuclear tests and announces plans to build a nuclear arsenal; Pakistan conducts six tests of its own in response.

1999, Feb Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee makes a historic bus ride to Pakistan for summit with Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif.

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