1947
Aug - India and Pakistan win freedom from British rule amid bloodletting between Hindus and Muslims

Oct - The two countries go to war in Kashmir after its Hindu ruler opts to join secular India rather than Islamic Pakistan

1949 - U.N. Security Council-ordered ceasefire takes effect

1965 - Second war over Kashmir. Combat ends after U.N. calls for ceasefire

1971 - Third India-Pakistan war over East Pakistan ends with creation of Bangladesh

1972 - Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Pakistani President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto sign accord envisaging bilateral settlement of disputes including Kashmir

1989 - Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front rebels kidnap Indian home minister's daughter demanding freedom for five separatist leaders. The government gives in, which is seen as a major boost for separatist groups

1990
Jan-Indian army opens fire in Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital, during protest against crackdown on separatism, killing 38

May - The two nations face off when India launches offensive, including air strikes, against Pakistan-backed infiltrators near icy heights around Kargil. More than 1,000 are killed

2001

Jul - Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee hold summit, the first in more than two years, but fail to agree on how to bury differences over Kashmir

Dec - Gunmen attack Indian parliament. India blames Pakistan-based Kashmiri militants, Pakistan denies this. India cuts air, rail and road links and pulls out diplomatic staff

Dec 2001/Jan 2002 - India masses hundreds of thousands of troops on border. Pakistan follows suit, raising spectre of another war

2003
Apr - Vajpayee says he wants to make final push for peace in his lifetime and offers Pakistan a "hand of friendship"

Nov - Pakistan declares a Kashmir ceasefire which is matched by India

2004

Jan - Vajpayee and Musharraf meet in Islamabad, giving big push to peace process, and agree to resume peace talks

2005
Feb - India and Pakistan agree to launch cross-border Kashmir bus service

Apr - Thirty-one Pakistani Kashmiris cross into Indian Kashmir, marking the first bus service for almost 60 years

Jun - Separatist politicians from Indian Kashmir visit Pakistan and meet Musharraf

Oct - Indian Foreign Minister Singh visits Pakistan for talks with Kasuri. The two sides agree on warning each other of ballistic missile tests but make no significant progress on Kashmir

Oct 8 - South Asia's biggest quake in a century strikes near Muzaffarabad, killing around 73,000 on the Pakistan side of the de-facto border and 1,300 on the Indian side and leaving 3 million homeless

Oct 29 - Bomb attacks in New Delhi kill 60. India later blames Kashmir militants

Nov - Pakistan and India open first of five border crossings to allow families to meet and aid to cross

2006

Jul - Blasts on trains in Mumbai kill 186 people and leave hundreds wounded. India cancels peace talks after blaming Pakistan-based militants

Nov Indian and Pakistani diplomats begin talks for the first time in nearly a year, reviving peace process that was halted by the train bombings

Dec - Musharraf says Pakistan will abandon its claim to the region if India agrees to give the territory autonomy under joint supervision by both countries