<P> In mid-1999, alleged insurgents and Pakistani soldiers from Pakistani Kashmir infiltrated Jammu and Kashmir . During the winter season, Indian forces regularly move down to lower altitudes, as severe climatic conditions makes it almost impossible for them to guard the high peaks near the Line of Control . This practice is followed by both India and Pakistan Army . The terrain makes it difficult for both sides to maintain a strict border control over Line of Control . The insurgents took advantage of this and occupied vacant mountain peaks in the Kargil range overlooking the highway in Indian Kashmir that connects Srinagar and Leh . By blocking the highway, they could cut off the only link between the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh . This resulted in a large - scale conflict between the Indian and Pakistani armies . The final stage involved major battles by Indian and Pakistani forces resulting in India recapturing most of the territories held by Pakistani forces . </P> <P> Fears of the Kargil War turning into a nuclear war provoked the then - United States President Bill Clinton to pressure Pakistan to retreat . The Pakistan Army withdrew their remaining troops from the area, ending the conflict . India regained control of the Kargil peaks, which they now patrol and monitor all year long . </P> <P> In a' Letter to American People' written by Osama bin Laden in 2002, he stated that one of the reasons he was fighting America was because of its support for India on the Kashmir issue . While on a trip to Delhi in 2002, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld suggested that Al - Qaeda was active in Kashmir, though he did not have any hard evidence . An investigation by a Christian Science Monitor reporter in 2002 claimed to have unearthed evidence that Al - Qaeda and its affiliates were prospering in Pakistan - administered Kashmir with tacit approval of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI). In 2002, a team comprising Special Air Service and Delta Force personnel was sent into Indian - administered Kashmir to hunt for Osama bin Laden after reports that he was being sheltered by the Kashmiri militant group Harkat - ul - Mujahideen . US officials believed that Al - Qaeda was helping organise a campaign of terror in Kashmir to provoke conflict between India and Pakistan . Their strategy was to force Pakistan to move its troops to the border with India, thereby relieving pressure on Al - Qaeda elements hiding in northwestern Pakistan . US intelligence analysts say Al - Qaeda and Taliban operatives in Pakistan - administered Kashmir are helping terrorists trained in Afghanistan to infiltrate Indian - administered Kashmir . Fazlur Rehman Khalil, the leader of the Harkat - ul - Mujahideen, signed al - Qaeda's 1998 declaration of holy war, which called on Muslims to attack all Americans and their allies . In 2006 Al - Qaeda claim they have established a wing in Kashmir, which worried the Indian government . Indian Army Lieutenant General H.S. Panag, GOC - in - C Northern Command, told reporters that the army has ruled out the presence of Al - Qaeda in Indian - administered Jammu and Kashmir . He said that there no evidence to verify media reports of an Al - Qaeda presence in the state . He ruled out Al - Qaeda ties with the militant groups in Kashmir including Lashkar - e-Taiba and Jaish - e-Mohammed . However, he stated that they had information about Al Qaeda's strong ties with Lashkar - e-Taiba and Jaish - e-Mohammed operations in Pakistan . While on a visit to Pakistan in January 2010, US Defense secretary Robert Gates stated that Al - Qaeda was seeking to destabilise the region and planning to provoke a nuclear war between India and Pakistan . </P> <P> In June 2011, a US Drone strike killed Ilyas Kashmiri, chief of Harkat - ul - Jihad al - Islami, a Kashmiri militant group associated with Al - Qaeda . Kashmiri was described by Bruce Riedel as a' prominent' Al - Qaeda member, while others described him as the head of military operations for Al - Qaeda . Waziristan had by then become the new battlefield for Kashmiri militants fighting NATO in support of Al - Qaeda . Ilyas Kashmiri was charged by the US in a plot against Jyllands - Posten, the Danish newspaper at the center of the Jyllands - Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy . In April 2012, Farman Ali Shinwari a former member of Kashmiri separatist groups Harkat - ul - Mujahideen and Harkat - ul - Jihad al - Islami, was appointed chief of al - Qaeda in Pakistan . </P>

Why have india and pakistan fought over kashmir