14 March 2013 Last updated at 08:19 ET

Kashmir profile

• Overview
• Timeline

A chronology of key events

Indian troops patrol the Line of Control separating Indian- and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir

1947 - End of British rule and partition of sub-continent into mainly Hindu India and Muslim-majority state of Pakistan.

1947 - The Maharaja of Kashmir signs a treaty of accession with India after a Pakistani tribal army attacks. War breaks out between India and Pakistan over the region.

1948 - India raises Kashmir in the UN Security Council, which in Resolution 47 calls for a referendum on the status of the territory. The resolution also calls on Pakistan to withdraw its troops and India to cut its military presence to a minimum. A ceasefire comes into force, but Pakistan refuses to evacuate its troops. Kashmir is for practical purposes partitioned.

1951 - Elections in the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir back accession to India. India says this makes a referendum unnecessary. The UN and Pakistan say a referendum needs to take into account the views of voters throughout the former princely state.

1953 - The pro-Indian authorities dismiss and arrest Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah, leader of the governing National Conference, after he takes a pro-referendum stance and delays formal accession to India. A new Jammu and Kashmir government ratifies accession to India.

1957 - The constitution of Indian-administrated Jammu and Kashmir defines it as part of India.

1950s - China gradually occupies eastern Kashmir (Aksai Chin).

Indian war with China

Indian army officers occupy a fort during the war with China

1962 - China defeats India in a short war for control of Aksai Chin.

1963 - Pakistan cedes the Trans-Karakoram Tract of Kashmir to China.

1965 - A brief war between Indian and Pakistan over Kashmir ends in a ceasefire and a return to the previous positions.

1971-72 - Another Indo-Pakistani war ends in defeat for Pakistan and leads to the 1972 Simla Agreement.This turns the Kashmir ceasefire line into the Line of Control, pledges both sides to settle their differences through negotiations, and calls for a final settlement of the Kashmir dispute. The Agreement forms the basis of Pakistani-Indian relations thereafter.

Simla Agreement

Indian leader Indira Gandhi, left, and Pakistani President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto shake hands after agreeing to resolve disputes through talks

1974 - The Opposition Plebiscite Front in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir drops demand for a referendum in return for extensive autonomy in an agreement with the Indian government. Sheikh Abdullah becomes chief minister, and his political dynasty continues to dominate the National Conference and state after his death in 1982.

1984 - The Indian Army seizes control of the Siachen Glacier, an area not demarcated by the Line of Control. Pakistan makes frequent attempts to capture the area in the following decades.

Start of insurgency

1987 - Disputed state elections in Indian-administrated Jammu and Kashmir give impetus to a pro-independence insurgency centred around the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). India accuses Pakistan of fomenting the insurgency by despatching fighters across the Line of Control, which Pakistan denies.

1990 - The insurgency escalates after the Indian Army kills about 100 demonstrators at Gawakadal Bridge. Attacks and threats lead to the flight of almost all Hindus from the Kashmir Valley area of the state. India imposes Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Jammu and Kashmir.

Indian forces have faced much resistance in Jammu and Kashmir

1990s - The insurgency continues, with Kashmiri militants training in Pakistan and India deploying hundreds of thousands of troops in Jammu and Kashmir. Violence against civilians by both sides is widespread.

1999 - India and Pakistan go to war again after militants cross from Pakistani-administered Kashmir into the Indian-administered Kargil district. India repulses the attack, accuses Pakistan of being behind it, and breaks off relations.

2001-2004 - Moves to boost relations between the two countries are punctuated by continuing violence, notably an attack on the parliament of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in Srinagar in 2001.

2010 - Major protests erupt in the Kashmir Valley of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir over the summer after a demonstrator is killed by the Indian army. The protests abate in September after the government announce measures to ease tension.

2011 August - Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announces an amnesty for the 1,200 young men who threw stones at security forces during the anti-government protests in the Kashmir Valley the previous year.

Indian State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) confirms presence of more than 2,000 unidentified bodies in unmarked graves near the Line of Control. Activists say many may be people who disappeared after being arrested by security forces.

Jammu and Kashmir has stunning surroundings but has had a troubled past

2011 September - Indian forces kill three Pakistani soldiers in firing across the Line of Control. India accuses Pakistan of opening fire first.

2012 August - The Chief Minister of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah, says that the security situation there is not yet conducive to the revoking of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in the state.

2012 September - Indian President Pranab Mukherjee visits Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir within two months of taking up office. Despite the threat of protests from separatists, the visit passes off without serious incident.

2013 March - Curfew imposed in Indian-administered Kashmir following a day of violence in which at least eight people were killed.