Why are India and Pakistan clashing over Kashmir?

What in the World

• Episode: Why are India and Pakistan clashing over Kashmir?
• Website: What in the World
• Feed URL: https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/w13xtvrv.rss
• Duration: 00:12:39
• Published: 2025-05-12 15:30

India and Pakistan have largely seen each other as rivals since they got their independence from Britain in 1947.

Recently, tensions have erupted there again, and over the past week both sides have launched cross-border military strikes.

It’s been over Kashmir - a Himalayan region which both India and Pakistan claim as theirs. Each administers part of it, and they’ve fought wars over it before. With this latest flare up, many are worried it could lead to another- and both sides have nuclear weapons.

Now, India and Pakistan have agreed to a ceasefire.

What’s the background to it all? We ask a load of BBC journalists, like Lyse Doucet and Arunoday Mukharji, to break down the history of it all.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Julia Ross-Roy, Adam Chowdhury, Rosabel Crean, Emily Horler, Benita Barden Editor: Verity Wilde