For nearly two weeks in 2025, South Asia held its breath as tensions between India and Pakistan surged after a deadly attack in Kashmir. Military strikes, diplomatic fallout and global calls for restraint showed just how fast a regional crisis can escalate.

The fighting has stopped, but deeper disputes – over security, Kashmir and shared rivers – remain unresolved.

This year-end special revisits the confrontation and explores what it revealed about the fragile balance of deterrence, diplomacy and survival in the region.