February 14 – India / Pakistan
Kashmir
A suicide bomber in a car filled with explosives rams into a convoy carrying the Indian soldiers to the main city of Srinagar in Indian-administered part of Kashmir. Unofficial reports say that about 40 people are dead, which makes the attack the deadliest in two decades. The Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which has been fighting Indian security forces in Kashmir for 30 years, claims responsibility for the attack.[1] Control of the Kashmir region is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed in full by both, with a smaller part administered by China. Since independence from Britain in 1947, the two sides have been fighting over the region and the conflict remains unresolved.
(Feb 26): India launches air strikes against the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militants in Balakot, which is within the Pakistani territory, right outside the border with Pakistani-controlled territory of Kashmir, escalating the tensions between the two countries. India claims these preemptive attacks are in response to its intelligence reports about more suicide attacks planned by the group in India. India says the air strikes have killed many militants, while Pakistan says it forced the Indian planes back and denies any casualties.[2]
Kashmir: Why India and Pakistan fight over it
A history of the Kashmir conflict (video: 02:38 min)
April 21 – Sri Lanka
Terrorist bombings
On Easter Sunday, a series of suicide bombings in several Sri Lankan luxury hotels, churches during the holiday services and other sites in the country’s biggest city, Colombo, kill 359 and injure more than 500 people. Among the victims are many foreigners.[3] This is the country’s deadliest attack since the end of the decades-long violent conflict between the Sinhalese majority (70.2 percent of the population) and the Tamil minority (12.6 percent) that ended in 2009. Muslims and Christians are small minorities in Sri Lanka, with 9.7 and 7.4 percent respectively.[4]
The government blames the attacks on the National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ), a small home-grown Islamist group. The ruthlessness and sophistication of the latest bombings indicate that there was help from international terrorist networks. Two days after the attacks the Islamic State (IS) group takes responsibility, although it does not provide direct evidence of this. All the suicide bombers are well educated and come from well-off families. The Sri Lankan government is highly criticized for ignoring the detailed intelligence it received before the bombings. Police detains around 60 suspects in connection with the attacks.[5]
History of the conflict in Sri Lanka between the Sinhalese and the Tamils (video 04:14 min)
May 23 – India
Elections
India announces the results of its general elections to the 17th Lower House of the Parliament called Lok Sabha that were held in seven rounds from April 11 to May 19. About 900 million people were eligible to vote, making it the largest election in the world. At 67 percent, the voter turnout was the highest ever.[6] The current Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wins a landslide victory gaining several seats to a total of 303, followed by the Indian National Congress party (52 seats).[7] Led by Rahul Gandhi, the grandson of Indira Ghandi, the first female Prime Minister of India and the son of Prime Minister Rajiv Ghandi, the Congress party has received a few more votes that in the previous parliament and remains the second largest party, but it failed to secure 10 percent of the seats (55 seats) to become officially the Opposition party. This means the 17th Lok Sabha will not have Leader of the Opposition and the Congress party will not be involved in appointments for key offices in the government.[8]
Tsunamo wave sinks political families in 2019 elections
India Lok Sabha election: Things to know
India Elections: Everything you need to know in 120 seconds (video 02:03 min)
August 5 – India / Pakistan
Kashmir
India’s government revokes Article 370 of the constitution that gives the Indian-administered Kashmir wide-ranging autonomy, except for the clause that states that Kashmir is an integral part of India. The region’s autonomy included a separate constitution, a flag and its own legal system, while foreign affairs, defense and communications were in the hands of India’s central government. The legislators also propose splitting the region into Kashmir and Ladakh and downgrading them to union territories. The government claims that revoking the Article 370 will help the region’s development by bringing outside investment, and will help its integration with India.
The government also revokes the provision 35A (added to the Article 370 later), which gave the residents of Kashmir special privileges, including the exclusive right to own property in the state. Critics say that when people from other Indian states will be allowed to buy land and move into Kashmir, it will change its unique demographic character as the only Muslim-majority state in India.[9] Pakistan condemns the move and expels top Indian diplomats and suspends trade between the two countries. It also files the case with the United Nations to look into the dispute.[10]
Background: During the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, it was expected that Muslim-majority Kashmir would join Pakistan. However, the leader of Kashmir decided to join the Indian union in return for help against an invasion of tribesmen from Pakistan. This led to war between India and Pakistan and partitioning the region between the two countries.[11] Both India and Pakistan continue to claim the entire Kashmir region, and tensions remain high along the line of control.
Map of the Kashmir region
September 8 – Afghanistan
Negotiations with the Taliban
The United States cancels peace negotiations with Afghan Taliban after Taliban militants explode a car bomb at a checkpoint near NATO headquarters and the US embassy in Kabul on September 6, killing 12 people, including one U.S. and one NATO soldier.[12] The peace negotiations that sought to end 18 years of America’s involvement in Afghanistan were secretly conducted in Qatar’s capital, Doha. A meeting between the U.S., Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, and a senior Taliban leader was due to take place at Camp David within days. This initial US-Taliban deal was meant to pave the way for intra-Afghan talks on a broader political solution, and reduce the U.S. troop numbers to 8,600. The US currently has about 14,000 troops in Afghanistan. The Taliban conditions its formal talks with the Afghan government on a timetable for the US troop withdrawal.[13]
Background: US-led forces overthrew the Taliban government in Afghanistan in the autumn of 2001, because the militants had given safe haven to the al-Qaeda network to plan the attacks on the US on 11 September. Nearly 3,500 members of the international coalition forces have died in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion, more than 2,300 of them American. The greatest losses, however, from the conflict are carried by Afghans themselves with more than 32,000 Afghan civilians, 58,000 Afghan security personnel and 42,000 opposition combatants in the same period of time. Despite 18 years of the U.S. military involvement, the Taliban again controls sizable swaths of territory.[14]
Tracking the killings in the Afghanistan conflict
November 1 – India
Smog in India’s capital, Delhi
The authorities in the Indian capital, Delhi, declare public health emergency after the city is wrapped with thick smog, with levels of dangerous particles in the air – known as PM2.5 – at over 10 times safe limits. They also close schools for several days, distribute millions of masks, and launch a mandatory car rationing system for the next 10 days. The system is supposed to lower pollution levels by allowing cars with odd or even number plates to be on the road only on alternate days.[15]
(Nov 4): India’s Supreme Court accuses state governments of inaction to combat the pollution levels, and orders Delhi’s state government to produce data showing that the car rationing system actually works. Experts say that car pollution is only one factor for the recurring smog. Other factors include crop burning by farmers in neighboring states to clear fields, construction, and industrial emissions, as well as Delhi’s geographic location.
Delhi choked by dangerous smog (video 0:26 min)