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The BJP Party wins 25 seats in the Kasmir legislative assembly, and the Kashmir People's Democratic Party led by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed wins 28 seats. Mr. Sayeed becomes the new chief minister in a coalition government formed with the BJP. Sayeed says about the election and the future- "History has given us a big opportunity, and we want to make this alliance the turning point for Kashmir." After years of conflict a new election provides an opportunity to turn the page for Kashmir and South Asia, and shift the focus to the economy and infrastructure.

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Indian foreign minister Jaishankar tells a conference in Begaluru that what happens outside India affects each and every Indian. Inflation with prices of fertilizer, foodgrains and oil are affected by the war in Ukraine, coronavirus started in Wuhan, China, the incursions since 2020 in the Himalayas were started at our borders by China and began with its invasion of Tibet, what is happening on the border in Kashmir with crossborder terrorism happens with China's support of Pakistan.  Gaining access to pools of US and European capital and technology will involve action taken by foreign investors from outside India's borders in lands far away. This will affect the infrastructure and the speed and scale of India's industrialization and modernization, and will affect every Indian. It will also help India compete with other industrialized countries including China, and emerge as a leader of the Free World along with US and European Union. The world is where everything takes place and India's place is in the Free World. ...

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How a resurgence of violence by Muslim Kashmiris plays out in a new atmosphere of India-Pakistan rapprochement and the political uncertainty in Pakistan with the transition to democratically elected government there still being tested. The efforts this time were relative to the violence of a decade previously rather innocuous, efforts to break a blockade of a key highway by Hindu nationalists that blocked shipping out Kashmiri apple harvest to the outside world. The Hindus were reacting to Muslim Kashmiris protesting a grant of 98 acres by the government (later rescinded) to Hindu pilgrims visiting a religious site Amarnath in the Kashmir Himalayas.

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Indian Railways is going through a huge modernization program making travel at high speeds possible between major cities and making remote locations accessible. This BBC report looks at the travel that was done in the older version of Indian Railways in crowded rail compartments and different conditions. Rail travel to Baramulla in Kashmir and Rameswaram in Tamilnadu state are shown at different ends of India. This is changing rapidly as more modern trains which cover long distances in a few hours are taking the place of older trains. Modern rail stations are replacing old ones with levels of convenience and technology matching that in Europe.

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Asia's longest bidirectional tunnel is between Ganderbal district in Kashmir and Kargil district of Ladakh in India's Himalayan region at a height of 11,500 feet for 14.2 kilometres. Indian Express shows pictures of work on the tunnel which will cut time across the mountains from 3 hours to 20 minutes and connects Leh in Ladakh with Srinagar in J&K providing all weather connectivity. It will be completed months ahead of completion date of 2026. As part of the project 19 tunnels are being constructed at a cost of $3.5 billion.

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The Kashmir Valley and the Kashmir region had a multiethnic community of Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus in the hundreds of years before 1947. It all disappeared after the cabinet meeting of Liaquat Ali Khan on 12th September 1947 when the plan to attack Kashmir using armed Pathan tribesmen and supporting military forces was approved. By the end of that year the surprise invasion had split Kashmir into two regions and led to a large scale dispersal of Sikhs, Hindus and other ethnic communities. This BBC report shows how this happened and how it changed a once peaceful region with a multiethnic society. Till the 15th century this region was Hindu and Buddhist with influences of Tibetan Buddhism and a center of creativity for Sanskrit culture and language. It changed with the Afghan and Persian invasions by 1580 and conversion to Islam of some of the Hindu population. By 1700 the Mughal empire decline and Afghan, Durrani dynasties ruled till about 1800 when the Sikhs under Ranjit Singh included Kashmir in the Sikh Empire based in Lahore, Punjab. This lasted under British patronage of the Dogra dynasty of Sikhs till 1947. In the 1901 Census of the British Indian Empire, the population of the princely state of Kashmir was 2,905,578. Of these 2,154,695 were Muslims, 689,073 Hindus, 25,828 Sikhs, and 35,047 Buddhists. The Muslim population was not homogenous and contained many tribes and the Gilgit Baltistan region was Shia Muslim, the Kashmir Valley Sunni Muslim and the mountainous regions had Pathans and many other tribes. This is why the region may have had Sikh and British rule for 150 years with even the Muslim communities existing with many different sub religions and living in amulti racial multi ethnic fabric that was upset by the invasion from the newly created state of Pakistan based in Islamabad using Pathan tribesmen and supporting military forces. What changed this was that after Kashmir was split in two by this invasion, China entered the northern border region of Kashmir called Aksai Chin and parts of Ladakh by building roads in 1956-57 and the occupation by China of this region including Tibet thousands of miles from Beijing in a remote region expansion by Communist China. ...

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India's Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri, provides briefings on the Indian response of May 7th in the early hours of the morning to the terrorist attacks on tourists in Kashmir with efforts to target tourism and destroy the Kashmir economy.

Indian missile attacks were launched on specific terrorist camps inside Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir. It is purely a response to terrorism and efforts to derail the modernization of the largest population economy in Asia of 1.4 billion people. Indian response was kept limited to terrorist targets and avoided Pakistan military.

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India's Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri, provides briefings on the Indian response of May 7th in the early hours of the morning to the terrorist attacks on tourists in Kashmir with efforts to target tourism and destroy the Kashmir economy.

Indian missile attacks were launched on specific terrorist camps inside Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir. It is purely a response to terrorism and efforts to derail the modernization of the largest population economy in Asia of 1.4 billion people. Indian response was kept limited to terrorist targets and avoided Pakistan military.

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India experienced heat waves in March 2022, with the affected areas including Gujarat, Uttarkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh. The IMD, Indian Meteorological Department declared India's first heat wave on March 11, and several heat waves since then.  IMD declares a heat wave when temperatures reach 40 degrees Celsius or 104 degrees Fahrenheit at low elevation. A heat wave is also considered to be taking place when temperatures are 4.5 degrees above normal, with 6.4 degrees called "severe." Senior climate scientists at IMD say heat waves in India are now more frequent and severe with unusual weather conditions in 2022.

2021 and 2022 reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warn that South Asia  faces conditions for heat waves and humidity related heat stress in coming decades. Marine heat waves are also more frequent.

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BBC looks at the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 that allocates waters of 6 rivers. Waters of three rivers in the east going to India, and 80% of waters of three western rivers including the Indus river going to Pakistan. Both countries are required to share waters data to manage agriculture. India is upstream for these rivers.  In the same way China is upstream of the river Brahmaputra in India and is building dams in Tibet to control flow of water downstream to India. There is no treaty for the Brahmaputra between India and China as China has occupied Tibet since 1950's and acquired Aksai Chin in the Kashmir region from Pakistan. Before 1950 for ten centuries Tibet region was a distant land mostly unreachable from China and China was never in control of Tibet. Kashmir region for 15 out of 18 centuries since 100 BC was a land of Vedic, Buddhist Shiva cultures. For China the occupation of Tibet on the borders of India creates a situation that is not sustainable for long and stretches resources at a time when India is rapidly building the same level of infrastructure on its side of the border. Chinese people in the provinces bordering Tibet have shown little interest in moving to the vastly different high country of Tibet. At some point in history not too distant by 2050, China (and Japan) will revert to its Buddhist religion and culture and with respect for Buddhist culture see Sarnath, Kushinagar, and Bodh Gaya more as sacred pilgrimage places in India, a common heritage with India to be treasured and revered. Something the Europeans and Americans cannot comprehend, the depth and breath of Vedic Buddhist and Shiv culture in Asia. ...

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Nehru's speech on the first anniversary of Indian Independence reflects the troubles of partition, integrating princely states, the refugees from Pakistan, and the world situation in 1948 with civil war and hyper inflation in China, Berlin blockade by Russia, and the impending invasion of South Korea by June 1949. Nehru talk about the "Kartavya" of the ordinary citizens, the path shown by Gandhi, self-reliance, and courage, discipline, grit needed in hard times. Nehru's Kashmiri Hindi differs from the more western accent to Hindi of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Both are shown on this page in audio broadcasts from the All India Archives and gives one a feel for the times and their relevance to guide India towards Vikshit Bharat 2047.

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With a democratically elected government not the real power in Pakistan and most power resting in the army and spy agency, India-Pakistan negotiations are going nowhere at this time. More tension in Kashmir and Afghanistan complicates the situation.

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In an escalation of hostilities Pakistan sends fighter jets to attack Indian positions in Kashmir.

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US president Trump, working through his Secretary of State Rubio and VP Vance sets up a immediate ceasefire in the war between Pakistan and India of May 7-10, 2025. Vance had cut short his trip to India in Jaipur on the day of the Pahalgam attack of April 22, 2025, by terrorists sponsored and supported by Pakistan.  In response India targeted missiles on 18 terrorist camps targets in Pakistan occupied Kashmir and Pakistan on May 7. Drone attacks followed on both sides followed by Indian missile attacks on 3 Pakistan airbases, An immediate ceasefire was accepted by both sides on May 10, 2025. After 75 years of such terrorist activity and militias from Pakistan since 1947 when partition of British Empire created Pakistan, 1.4 billion Indians have lost their patience. Especially because the attack was intended to cut short the revival of the Kashmir economy and modernization of India. In 2024 24 million tourists visited Kashmir reviving its economy. India has Vikshit Bharat 2047 modernization plan to make it an advanced economy, there is a feeling in India that modernization is essential no matter what the difficulties are, Pakistan essentially the Punjab, just one state as its economy stagnates and becomes a sponsor of terrorism. ...

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Lashkar aPakistan terrorist group which recruits members has 150,000 members in Pakistan and is drawing increasing support, has connections to Pakistan's Intelligence Agency ISI at different levels on a clandestine level, and is capable of another attack. The ISI leadership for its part has not abandoned its goal for freeing Kashmir but simply shelved it for now. Says the Times report by Lyddia Polgreen and Souad Mekhennet, with interviews and classified information from ISI officials and operatives, the capabilities of Lashkar are intact, only "a thin distance" separates the Lashkar from the ISI bridged by military and former intelligence service members, and another attack is possible. The cooperation between the the Indian and Pakistani intelligence and police even now is zero according to this report. This has grim consequences for the American troops in the Afghanistan region and the Pakistan troops fighting the war in the border regions, and for economic development in South Asia. For the first time the consequences of past failed policies in the region are threatening the vital interests of the American and South Asian people, as wars and conflict now seriously threaten much needed infrastructure and economic development in South Asia and economic renewal in North America. And serious solutions and problem solving is sorely needed on the North American side and the South Asian side. The vital interests and future of about 400 million people in North America and 1400 million people in South Asia would otherwise be held hostage to the volatile emotions of 8 million people in Pakistani and Indian parts of Kashmir, in a remote region of the world. ...

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Kashmiri shawl weavers were mostly women. Mechanization has pushed many from earning their livelihoods from the shawl industry. New ways are being found to revive the older shawl weaving methods and give Kashmiri women an opportunity to work and be financially independent. A lot can be learned from the French who have a thriving industry using hand weaving with new technology and marketing techniques for hand woven fabrics using new designs. Some of these French companies could actually collaborate with Kashmiri makers to relaunch this industry in a new way and employ many women in making shawls and other specialty fabric designs. This manufacture would also command higher prices in a niche market segment in India and in world markets.

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India says it will divert water from the eastern tributaries of the Indus River away from Pakistan to the Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, in response to a terrorist attack. Under a World Bank brokered treaty the waters of the Indus river are shared by both countries. India's Modi government faces elections in 2019.

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India agrees to an immediate ceasefire after a call from Pakistan's head of military operations for a ceasefire. The conflict started with attack on tourism that was reviving the Kashmir economy after three decades through a terrorist attack killing 26 tourists in Phalgam, Kashmir on  April 22, 2025 in the mountains near the Pir Panjal range. 24 million tourists visited Kashmir in 2024. Indian response was swift on May 7 early morning hours attacking 18 terrorist camps inside Pakistan occupied Kashmir and inside Pakistan. India called it a act of self-defense to Pakistan sponsored state terrorism going back to 1947. What is different in this brief 4 day war is that India made it economic with efforts at IMF to make terrorism an issue for loans to Pakistan, and ending the Indus Waters Treaty on water sharing. Pakistan economy is struggling with no debt relief from China, making it turn to the IMF, a politically split population with Opposition leader Imran Khan in jail, and continued domination by the military over civilian govenrment. On May 9 drone attacks were launched from Pakistan using Turkish made drones in large numbers on cities and towns in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab. Blackouts were placed in India by May 8 in all cities in the north and in Pakistan. India responded with its own drones and missile attacks on three military airbases as the war broadened to military targets on May 10. US mediated a ceasefire through Saudis and Turkey. Earlier Saudis and Iran were in New Delhi with whom India has good relations to get a ceasefire. Mr. Trump's efforts behind the scenes secured an agreement. VP Vance had cut short an Indian trip in Jaipur on April 22. India and the US are allies in the Indo-Pacific, and India and Russia have decades of friendly relations. China now uses Pakistan as a proxy state, but does not provide the economic aid it needs, for which it has turned to the IMF.    ...

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The US view of the response by India to a terrorist attack in Phalgam, Kashmir, Indian Union territory with strikes on terrorist camps. J.D. Vance US vice president says- “Our hope here is that India responds to this terrorist attack in a way that doesn’t lead to a broader regional conflict.” “And we hope, frankly, that Pakistan to the extent that they’re responsible, cooperates with India to make sure that the terrorists sometimes operating in their territory are hunted down and dealt with.” Vance was forced to cut short his visit to India after visiting Jaipur, Rajasthan in India when the terrorists with a history of aid from Pakistan killed 31 tourists in Phalgam, Kashmir. A long history of terrorist or militia trained in Pakistan has led to  terrorist incidents all over the world for the last three decades including the Kashmir and Afghanistan conflicts, the last having drawn Russia and the US into long wars which depleted their resources and led to loss of many lives. Yet much of the media remains oblivious of this in the US and Europe, and how it has led to the rise of China using this period of conflict under Bush and Obama since 2000, and the access to US, EU technologies and assistance. ...

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Farmers are switching from paddy rice cultivation to apples in areas an hour from Srinagar in Kashmir. Farmers using traditional varieties of apples are also changing by planting high yielding varieties of apples imported from Europe, and doubling yield, profits. New varieties are also less susceptible to damage from hailstorms. By providing farm machines, tractors, sprayers, juice preservation plants, the government hopes to change the economic future of Kashmir. This sector has potential as a major employment generator, with 71% of India's apple production in Kashmir. In the last 3 years alone the sector has grown 50% from 6000 crore to 9000 crore rupees. Because apples are far more profitable than paddy rice cultivation it also enhances incomes in the state, with the additional benefit of generating many man days of work in orchards- one hectare creating 400 man days. Today 700,000 farming families or 3.3 million people are supported by apple production in Kashmir. ...

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The attack against the ill trained and ill equiped Pakistan poilce forces in the Punjab and across the country. It also resembles the attacks against police forces and suicide bombings by insurgents in Iraq. The police force of 167,000 recruits the same way as it did during the times of the British rule, which is to take poorly educated recruits and train them to protect the ruling elites and maintain order. THe Punjab police officer in charge of logistics says the force has only 80% of the weapons needed for the 167,000 men. Because police officers take bribes routinely they are also not like by the public, whereas the terrorists act like pious Muslims and mix with the people. The terrorists by contrast are very well equiped and trained making the police no match for them. Making things worse the terrorist groups that were supported by the Inter Services Intelligence or ISI of Pakistan and encouraged to operate against India are now coordinating actions in Pakistan with the Taliban. These terrorists have even more training and equipment than the Taliban, operating in places like Kashmir fighting the Indian military....