On April 22, 2025 a major terrorist attack took place near the town of Pahalgam in the Indian administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir. A group of armed attackers emerged from the woods surrounding a meadow and ambushed civilian tourists who were visiting the area. In total, 26 visiting tourists were killed in the massacre – all of whom were civilians, and nearly all of whom were Hindus – representing the deadliest terrorist attack on civilians in Jammu and Kashmir in more than 30 years and the deadliest attack on civilians anywhere in India since 2008.

The risk of a massive war erupting between India and Pakistan has nearly always been present for decades but it appears to have increased in chances dramatically in recent times. 

In order to understand why this border is so militarised today and why Kashmir is such a dangerous and hotly disputed area you need to understand how modern India, Pakistan and Kashmir all came to be in the first place and for a lot of that – as with most other major modern controversial border disputes – you can thank the British.