India-Pakistan ties nosedive in 2013

With over 200 ceasefire violations on the LoC and deaths of several soldiers on both sides, India-Pakistan ties nosedived again in 2013 after efforts to put them back on track and repair the damage done by the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

The year started off with the beheading of a soldier inside Indian territory at the Line of Control and the mutilation of another in January.

India reacted to the development by suspending bilateral talks that had resumed in early 2011 after being put on hold over the brazen assault on India's financial hub by members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.

PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, who became Prime Minister for a record third term after his party swept the general election in May, spoke often about peace with India but tensions continued on the LoC for months with both sides accusing each other of violations of the 2003 ceasefire.

Things reached a boiling point in August, when a raid carried out by the Pakistani special forces killed five Indian soldiers.

The period till mid-November was marked by ceasefire violations on the LoC which claimed the lives of at least 11 Indian soldiers.

The Pakistan Army blamed India for ceasefire violations and said at least five of its soldiers died in incidents of firing. Pakistan also said many of its civilians were killed in Indian shelling.

The ceasefire violations continued even after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met his Pakistani counterpart Sharif in September in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Suspense about the meeting prevailed till a few days before they actually met and hectic backdoor diplomacy was put into motion to ease tensions.

Ahead of his meeting with Sharif, Singh asked Pakistan to shut down "terrorist machinery" on its soil while making it clear that there can "never, ever" be a compromise on the territorial integrity of India of which Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part.

Speaking at the UNGA, Singh also virtually rejected Sharif's demand for resolution of the Kashmir issue on the basis of Security Council resolutions, saying India favoured settlement of all issues on the basis of the Simla Agreement.