Pakistan (India's Neighbours)

📌 Background & Key Features

Historical arc: Four wars (1947-48, 1965, 1971, Kargil 1999); repeated major terror attacks (Parliament attack 2001, 26/11 Mumbai 2008, Uri 2016, Pulwama 2019, Pahalgam 2025) have consistently derailed dialogue.
Indus Waters Treaty: A World Bank-brokered 1960 pact allocating the western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) mainly to Pakistan and eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) to India — survived every prior war until 2025.
India’s doctrine shift: From "strategic restraint" to calibrated conventional retaliation (Surgical Strikes 2016, Balakot 2019, Operation Sindoor 2025), reflecting a rising threshold for tolerating cross-border terrorism.

Key frameworks	Shimla Agreement (1972), Lahore Declaration (1999), Indus Waters Treaty (1960)
2025 flashpoint	Pahalgam terror attack (Apr 2025) → Operation Sindoor (May 2025)
IWT status	In abeyance since April 2025

Pahalgam attack (22 April 2025) killed 26 civilians, attributed to The Resistance Front (a Lashkar-e-Taiba proxy); India responded with Operation Sindoor (7-8 May 2025), striking nine terror-infrastructure sites, and placed the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance.
As of mid-2026, India maintains IWT abeyance, stating it "will not function in its present form" unless Pakistan "credibly and irrevocably" abjures cross-border terrorism; Pakistan’s defence minister has called any water disruption a potential "cause for war."
Track-II backchannel talks resumed in Colombo (2026) — the first sign of possible future dialogue, though no formal bilateral talks have resumed.

Key frameworks: Shimla Agreement (1972), Lahore Declaration (1999), Indus Waters Treaty (1960)
2025 flashpoint: Pahalgam terror attack (Apr 2025) → Operation Sindoor (May 2025)
IWT status: In abeyance since April 2025

Year	Question	Marks
2014	Terrorist activities and mutual distrust have clouded India-Pakistan relations. To what extent the two countries have succeeded in overcoming this hostility? Enumerate the initiatives taken.	12.5
2026 (Practice)	Critically examine the strategic and legal implications of India placing the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance.	15