India-Pakistan relations remain tense despite diplomatic efforts.

India's foreign minister, Subhramanyam Jaishankar, dismissed his Pakistani counterpart, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, as a "promoter" and "spokesperson" for terrorism, effectively ending any hopes for reconciliation between the two countries at the Shanghai Cooperation Summit. Jaishankar accused Pakistan of supporting terrorism and "committing acts of terrorism," a charge Islamabad denies. The exchange of words between ministers shut down any possibility of bilateral talks. India and Pakistan have fought four wars since gaining independence from the British empire, and their chilly relations took a nose-dive in 2019 when the Modi government downgraded the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir into two federally-controlled territories.