Militants in Kashmir killed at least 26 tourists and injured many others on Tuesday in the worst assault on civilians in the Indian-administered territory in years, which India has called a terrorist attack.
India has not officially blamed any group for the shooting, which took place near the town of Pahalgam in the picturesque Baisaran Valley. But it took a series of punitive actions against its neighbor Pakistan on Wednesday. There, people are watching with growing concern as Indian officials also hint at the possibility of military strikes.
Here is what to know about the tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir.
Kashmir is a disputed territory.
Kashmir, a scenic and ethnically diverse valley in the Himalayan mountains, has been racked by violence for generations.
Its fate was left undecided in 1947, when the British divided India, its former colony, into two countries. One was Pakistan, which has a Muslim majority. The other, made up mostly of Hindus, retained the name India.
The Hindu ruler of Kashmir, which had also fallen within British India, refused to accede to either India or Pakistan. Both nations coveted the territory, a Muslim-majority region rich in natural beauty and resources.
Within months of the partition, however, the ruler changed his mind. The territory became a part of India. But Pakistan did not give up its claim. Both countries sent troops into the region, leading Pakistan to occupy about one-third and India two-thirds.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars over it.
Military incursions, police crackdowns and terrorist attacks have also broken out between the two nations as militants fighting for independence have killed scores of civilians, including Hindu pilgrims.
Since war last broke out in 1999, Kashmir has remained one of the world’s most militarized regions. The two neighbors, which both wield nuclear arms, have again come to the brink of war several times, including in 2019, when a suicide bombing in Kashmir killed at least 40 Indian soldiers.
India blamed Pakistan for the attack, and a militant group based in Pakistan claimed responsibility. Pakistan said the group, Jaish-e-Muhammad, was formally banned there. But Indian and American officials have said it still operates in the country and have called it a terrorist group.
India and Pakistan are locked in a stalemate.
The two nations have not moved from their positions on Kashmir over the past half-century, despite decades of violence and the United Nations’ attempts to mediate the dispute.
India has accused Pakistan of sponsoring separatist violence. Pakistan has denied the accusation while also arguing that the dispute over Kashmir should be resolved through a United Nations-mandated referendum allowing Kashmiris to decide their own status.
Tensions have simmered since India abolished Kashmir’s autonomy.
In 2019, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked a part of the Indian constitution that had given autonomy to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The move, to fully integrate India’s portion of Kashmir, as the region is known, was part of his Hindu nationalist agenda.
His government began directly administering the territory from New Delhi — bringing a huge security presence to the region and cutting off communications to the outside world. It imprisoned thousands of political leaders, human rights activists and civilians, and suspended democracy for years.
Pakistan condemned India’s moves. But violent unrest has broken out in the part of Kashmir controlled by Pakistan, too. Protests there have reflected a general feeling of dissatisfaction with Pakistani rule.
Direct rule by India dampened the outbreaks of violence in the portion of Kashmir it controlled. Voting also resumed last year. But discontent with Mr. Modi’s party, particularly for how heavily it polices the lives of Kashmiris, remains.
