History: The Indian Independence Act of August 15, 1947 created India and Pakistan as soveriegn countries within the British Commonwealth of Nations... With the right to stay or withdraw it was independence...
A man named Mahatma Gandhi (Mahandus was his legal name, Mahatma meaning the Great Soul) was the driving force behind their independence from the approximately 300 year rule of the British Empire... Gandhi used nonviolence and passive resistance as weapons to wage a war against Britain... He succeeded and showed the world that change did not always have to be violent... Forces within India turned toward ethnic hatreds and religious strife, leading to the division of the province into Pakistan and India...
            The two countries fought their first war for the province of Kashmir in 1947-1949... Shortly after this was the brutal conquest of Tibet by China in 1950, this strained relations with this neighbor, likely leading to the Chinese-Pakistani alliance... The 1959 Tibetan revolt and subsequent refugees taken in by India led to a border war with China which lasted until 1962... Afterwards India overhauled their defenses, stung from defeats by Chinese troops... This led to the Indian government detonating an atomic bomb in 1960...Another war was fought over Kashmir in 65-66 and another later...In 1971, Bangledesh declared independence from Pakistan and India joined the ensuing war, Pakistan was defeated...
               In 1998 both countries tested nuclear weapons and declared themselves nuclear powers... They both also have tested medium and long range ballistic missiles... Throughout 1999 both countries have been involved in border skirmishes, air battles, etc... Pakistan's democratic government was overthrown and a military junta put in its place...
    On Oct 26, 1999 Pakistani troops attacked and overran fortified positions in India but were ultimately repelled... May 2001 India ends regional cease-fire agreement...September 11th, 2001 Mass murderers attack the United States plunging the world into war... October 2001 Crushing the Taliban and Al Qeada in Afghanistan destabilize the region and shake China's grip on Pakistan... November 2001 An explosion in India, linked back to Pakistan, causes major border skirmishes, reportedly damaging or destroying 34 bases on both sides of the border... Al Qeada forces in Kashmir are annihilated... January 2002 terrorist attacks at the Indian Parliament and an American compound in India are linked back to Pakistan, over a million troops are deployed on both sides of the border causing border skirmishes to intensify... Indian tests its new "Agni" nuclear missile increasing tension in the region... March 2002 violence between Muslims and Hindus within India erupts killing hundreds...
May 2002, Muslim militants attack a barracks killing the wives and children of Indian soldiers. Indian troops, planes, and ships move for a possible strike on terrorist bases in Pakistani controlled Kasmir. Pakistan tests new nuclear capable missile.
 
 

Kashmir(the plutonium powderkeg): technically called Jammu and Kashmir, is a mountainous region in the Himilayas approximately 222,000 square kilometers(about 85,000 square miles)... Three nuclear powers have occupying troops in the province, controlling a piece of it... All of them have fought each other in the past...

    Area of Indian-controlled Kashmìr, about 100,569 square kilometers (about 38,830 square miles); population (1991 estimate) 7,718,700. Area of Pakistani-controlled Kashmìr, 78,932 square kilometers (30,476 square miles); population (1985 estimate) 2,800,000. The area controlled by China covers about 42,735 square kilometers (about 16,500 square miles), no population numbers available.
 
 

India

Pop.  984 million
Size: 3,287,590 suqare kilometers
Major Religions: Hindu(80%)
Status: Continental Nuclear Power, future political world power
Allies: United States (currently)
Relations: China(emnity), Pakistan(emnity)
Major Attributes: Sociology: 1500 languages and dialects
Population: second largest to China
Climate: ranges from frozen to tropical
Economy: one-third of population in poverty
Defense:Nuclear ballistic missile deployment
Exports: engineering goods, chemicals, leather manufactures, cotton yarn, and fabric
Highways:2,060,000 km (1996)
Armed Forces: 1,265,000 troops(voluntary) >
 

Pakistan:

Pop. 135.1 million
Size: 803,940 square kilometers
Major religion:Muslim(97%)
Status: Continental Nuclear Power
Allies: China(state of alliance currently unknown), United States(currently)
Relations: China(partners), India(emnity)
Major Atributes: Food:one of the world's largest irrigation systems...
Archeology:Indus Valley civilization(2500 B.C.)
Defense: Nuclear ballistic missile deployment
Political: Recent military coup
Exports: primarily cotton, textiles, clothing, rice, leather, carpets
Highways: 224,774 km (1996)
Armed Forces: 575,000(voluntary service)

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