The Indian government has revoked the special status of Indian-administered Kashmir in its constitution, the most far-reaching political move on the disputed region in nearly 70 years.
A presidential decree issued on August 5 revoked Article 370 of India's constitution that guaranteed special rights to the Muslim-majority state, including the right to its own constitution and autonomy to make laws on all matters, except defence, communications and foreign affairs.
In the lead-up to the move, India sent thousands of additional troops to the disputed region, imposed a crippling curfew, shut down telecommunications and internet, and arrested political leaders.
The move has worsened the already-heightened tensions with neighbouring Pakistan, which said it would downgrade its diplomatic relations with India.
Both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir in full but rule it in part. The nuclear-armed neighbours have fought two of their three wars over the disputed territory. A rebellion in Indian-administered Kashmir has been ongoing for three decades.
Here are the latest updates:
Friday, August 16
Indian UN envoy: Kashmir decision internal matter
India's ambassador to the United Nations criticised international interference over Kashmir, after the Security Council held its first formal meeting on the disputed region in almost 50 years.
"We don't need international busybodies to try to tell us how to run our lives," Syed Akbaruddin told reporters in New York, adding that India's decision was an internal matter.
"If there are issues, they will be discussed, they will be addressed by our courts," he said.
Pakistan UN envoy: Voice of Kashmiri people has been heard
Pakistan's ambassador to the UN said people in Indian-administered Kashmir "are not alone", adding that they "may be locked up ... but their voices were heard today".
Maleeha Lodhi was speaking to reporters after the Security Council met behind closed doors to discuss the situation in Kashmir for the first time in decades. She said tthat the meeting was called 72 hours after Pakistan's Foreign Minister wrote a letter requesting it in the wake of India's move.
"We are grateful to China in also joining us and calling this meeting," she said.
"The voice of the Kashmiri people, the voice of the people of occupied Kashmir has been heard today in the highest diplomatic forum of the world.
"They are not alone ... their plight, their hardship, their pain, their suffering, their occupation and the consequences of that occupation has been heard in the UNSC."
Lodhi said that the very fact this meeting had taken place is "testimony to the fact that this is an internationally recognised dispute".
Chinese UN envoy: Kashmir situation 'very tense, very dangerous'
The Chinese ambassador to the UN said the Security Council feared that the situation in Kashmir may get worse.
Speaking to reporters after the council wrapped up the closed-door meeting in New York, Zhang Jun said the situation in Kashmir is "already very tense and very dangerous".
He added that the members of the council generally feel India and Pakistan should both refrain from unilateral action over Kashmir.
UN Security Council meets to discuss Kashmir
The UN Security Council met behind closed doors to discuss the situation in Kashmir for the first time in decades at the request of China and Pakistan.
The UN's most powerful body was being briefed morning by Assistant Secretary-General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco and General Carlos Humberto Loitey, the UN military adviser.
UN officials said the council session may be its first on Kashmir since the late 1990s, or possibly since the 1971 India-Pakistan war.
Russia's deputy UN ambassador, Dmitry Polyansky, told reporters as he headed into the meeting that Moscow is concerned about the latest developments, but he said it is "a bilateral issue."
Amnesty International Secretary-General Kumi Naidoo said in a statement that council members "need to remember that their mandate is to protect international peace and security - and they should seek to resolve the situation in a way that puts the human rights of the people in this troubled region at its centre."
Pakistan: Khan and Trump discuss Kashmir
Imran Khan, the prime minister of Pakistan, has held a telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump in which the two leaders discussed the events in Kashmir.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Khan shared his concern with Trump that the situation in Kashmir posed a danger to the region.
He said the conversation was part of the prime minister's outreach to world leaders about the developments in Kashmir.
There was no information about Trump's comments.
Candlelight vigil voices solidarity with Kashmir
Scores of Pakistanis living in Turkey gathered outside the Pakistan Embassy in Ankara on Thursday evening for a candlelight vigil expressing their solidarity with the people of India-administered Jammu and Kashmir.
With candles and posters in their hands, they were joined by many Turks, who said they had come to express support for the Kashmiri population.
India says restoring phone lines in Kashmir
India will begin restoring phone lines in Kashmir on Friday evening, a top official said, after a 12-day blackout following the stripping of the region's autonomy.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam did not make clear, however, whether mobile phones and internet connections would also be reinstated in the Muslim-majority northern region.
"You will see a gradual restoration (of telephone lines) from tonight and tomorrow onwards. You will find a lot of Srinagar functioning tomorrow morning," Subrahmanyam said, referring to the main city in the restive Kashmir Valley.
"Exchange by exchange they will be switching it on. Over the weekend you will have most of these lines functioning most probably," he told reporters.
He said the easing would "(keep) in mind the constant threat posed by terrorist organisations in using mobile connectivity to organised terrorist actions."
'Expectations high' ahead of UNSC meeting
The first special United Nations Security Council session on Kashmir will take place today after 54 years.
In Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Al Jazeera's Osama Bin Javaid, said "expectations are really high" ahead of the session.
Protesters in Pakistan administered #Kashmir demand UN listen to their plight as many are worried about family members on the other side.
Kashmiris say they can only appeal to the world's conscience as they believe there is no other solution but diplomacy
See Osama Bin Javaid's other Tweets
"The people are calling on the UN and the UNSC members to listen to the plight of the Kashmiris," said Javaid.
The UNSC move is being hailed as a diplomatic victory by Pakistan, but the government was wary of any "concrete steps to be taken to stop India or roll back whats its done in Kashmir".
Red dot symbolising Kashmiri resistance
While the Kashmir region remains locked down, Kashmiri diaspora is using social media to organise protests and mobilise opinion.
Amid the crisis, Stand With Kashmir, a grassroots advocacy group in the United States, posted a red dot on its Instagram account they had set up only months ago.
"We decided to use it [the red dot] as a campaign [to] try to at least do some kind of an initial social media organising to make people aware."
Read more here.
Clampdown to be eased in 'next few days'
India will lift restrictions on people's movements and communication links in Kashmir in the next few days, the federal government told the Supreme Court on Friday.
The court was hearing a petition by a newspaper editor seeking restoration of telephone and internet services snapped this month, just before the government withdrew Kashmir's special status, to prevent protests.
The restrictions would be lifted in the "next few days", the government lawyer, Tushar Mehta, said. "The ground situation is being reviewed daily and the Supreme Court must trust the security agencies."
Indian troops' firing 'kills another Pakistani soldier'
Pakistan's army said Indian troops fired across the Line of Control in the disputed Kashmir region, killing another soldier and bringing the death toll to six in less than 24 hours.
Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor in a tweet Friday said "another brave son of soil lost his life in the line of duty" in Buttal town.
On Thursday, Pakistan's army said at least three of its soldiers and five Indian soldiers were killed after a cross-border exchange of fire, prompting a denial by New Delhi that there were fatalities among its forces.
Another brave son of soil laid his life in the line of duty. Sepoy Muhammad Sheeraz embraced shahadat due to Indian firing in Buttal Sector along LOC.
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Thursday, August 15
Indian troops detain Kashmiri journalist
Indian troops detained a Kashmiri reporter working for a local newspaper in an overnight raid on his house in Southern Pulwama district, his family said.
Irfan Ahmad Malik, 28, works for Greater Kashmir, the largest daily newspaper in the Kashmir valley. It was not immediately clear why he had been detained.
More than 500 local leaders and activists have been detained in the past 12 days of the crackdown.
Thousands demonstrate in London against India move
Several thousand people protested outside the Indian embassy in London against the country's move to strip the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir of its autonomy.
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The protesters in the United Kingdom's capital held up signs reading "Kashmir is bleeding" and waved Kashmiri and Pakistani flags. Police separated them from a smaller pro-India counter-demonstration.
Indian army: 'No casualties'
An Indian army spokesperson has denied the Pakistani army's statement that five Indian soldiers were killed in a cross-border exchange of fire in the disputed region of Kashmir.
"No casualties. This assertion is wrong," the spokesperson was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.
In a statement quoted by news agencies, the Indian army said that at about 7am, Pakistan violated a ceasefire between the two nations in the heavily militarised LoC.
Read the full story.
Fire across LoC 'kills 3 Pakistani, 5 Indian troops'
At least three Pakistani soldiers and five Indian troops have been killed after an exchange of fire across the Line of Control in the disputed region of Kashmir, Pakistan's army has said.
Major General Asif Ghafoor, the chief spokesman of the Pakistan Armed Forces, said in a Twitter post on Thursday that Indian forces had increased firing along the contested border.
Read the full story.
'Black Day' over Kashmir
Pakistan is observing a 'Black Day' to coincide with India's independence day celebrations.
Newspaper issues carried black borders and politicians, including Prime Minister Imran Khan, replaced their social media pictures with black squares. Flags on government buildings flew at half-mast.
Nearly a 1,000 supporters of Hizbul Mujahideen rebel group marched through Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, holding black flags and shouting anti-India slogans.
UN 'likely' to discuss Kashmir issue on Friday
The UN Security Council (UNSC) is expected to discuss the Kashmir issue on Friday, Radio Pakistan reported, citing diplomatic sources.
Pakistan's Geo News also reported the news quoting UNSC president Joanna Wronecka as saying: "The UNSC will discuss the Jammu and Kashmir situation behind closed doors most likely on August 16."
Modi must lift Kashmir communications blackout: Amnesty
Amnesty International has asked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lift the communications blackout and engage with the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
"It is a paradox that as India celebrates its 73rd independence day today, the people of Jammu and Kashmir continue to be subjected to a lockdown for the past 10 days," the rights group said in a statement.
Modi defends move to revoke Kashmir's special status
Modi has defended his decision to revoke Kashmir's special status, saying the move is to ensure the idea of "one nation, one constitution", which he said will foster growth in the troubled region, at the 73rd-anniversary celebration of Indian independence in New Delhi.
"We don't believe in delaying solving problems, we also don't let problems fester," Modi said, saying two-thirds of both houses of Indian parliament approved the plan.
Read the full story.
We do not believe in creating problems or prolonging them.
In less than 70 days of the new Government, Article 370 has become history, and in both Houses of Parliament, 2/3rd of the members supported this step.
We want to serve Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh: PM @narendramodi
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Wednesday, August 14
How are Kashmiris coping under lockdown?
Millions in Indian-administered Kashmir are living under curfew after the government revoked the state's semi-autonomy.
Thousands of troops were sent to the Muslim-majority region, while telephone lines and internet connections are blocked.
Al Jazeera's The Stream looks at what lies in store for the people of Kashmir amid the ongoing lockdown.
Watch the special episode here.
Indian activists release report after Kashmir visit
A group of Indian activists, economists, writers and members of leftist organisations presented their observations of the situation in Kashmir in the capital New Delhi on Wednesday after returning from a five-day trip to the disputed region.
Kavita Krishnan, a left-wing activist, said the situation is "absolutely not normal," contrary to reports by several Indian news broadcasters.
Read the full story.
Pakistan protests killing of villager in Kashmir
Pakistan's foreign ministry said it has summoned an Indian diplomat to protest the killing of a civilian by Indian fire in disputed Kashmir.
The ministry said in a statement that a 38-year-old villager was killed on Tuesday by an "unprovoked cease-fire violation by Indian troops on the Pakistani side of Kashmir."
Restrictions in Jammu region lifted: Report
Restrictions in the Jammu region of Indian-administered Kashmir have been "completely removed", Indian news agency PTI said, quoting a senior police official.
"Restrictions imposed in Jammu have been completely removed and schools and other establishments there are functioning. Restrictions will continue in some places of Kashmir for some time," Additional Director General Munir Khan said, according to PTI.
India's Kashmir move 'strategic blunder by Modi'
India's move of revoking Article 370 and imposing a lockdown in Kashmir is a strategic blunder by Indian PM Narendra Modi, his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan has said while addressing legislators in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Khan visited Muzaffarabad on Pakistan's independence day as he reaffirmed his support to the Kashmiri people in their struggle for self-determination amid heightened tensions with neighbouring India.
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