[War_ooc] Timeline stuff, part VII: South Asia

[John Penta]

Regional Themes:

1. Corruption: Like Africa, corruption is a big issue here. It's all the
more shocking, though, because this region used to (in large part) be
British India, with a civil service that was a point of serious pride to the
locals precisely for not being corrupt and being generally efficient.
2. A messy democracy: India is the biggest example here, but Pakistan fits
too - Democracy in South Asia, where it exists, is big, boisterous, dirty,
and messy. There remain yawning gaps between rich and poor, though both of
the major countries in the region have growing middle classes.
3. Allahu Akhbar! Hindutva!: Religion, caste in India, ethnicity...There are
a lot of dividing lines in the region. Plenty of ways in which conflicts,
within and between states, could happen.

Events:

August 2009: Hamid Karzai wins another term as President of Afghanistan
after chaotic, yet generally free and fair, elections.
September 2009: Taliban begin sustained counterattacks against Pakistani
forces in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the Northwest
Frontier Province, aided by Al-Qaeda fighters from outside Pakistan and
other associates.
November 2009: Taliban once again reach within 60 kilometers of Islamabad.
December 2009: Seeking to focus resources on the fight against the Taliban,
Pakistan begins a series of confidence-building measures with India,
including mutual redeployments of forces away from the Indo-Pakistani
border.
February 2010: President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari makes the first State
Visit of a Pakistani President to New Delhi, followed by a visit of Indian
Prime Minister Mammohan Singh to Islamabad in July 2010, marking a major
breakthrough in Indo-Pakistani relations.
March 2010: NATO forces in Afghanistan report making substantial progress
against the Taliban; Pakistani forces engage in near-constant battles
against Taliban fighters, with some success.
August 2010: Pakistani President Zardari is seriously wounded by an
assassination attempt by the Taliban in Islamabad.
November 2010: Riots by Hindu nationalists occur across India, most
particularly targeting Muslims and Christians, but also other minorities.
Thousands are reported dead.
April 2011: NATO and the Afghan government declare the Taliban in
Afghanistan contained. NATO forces complete the final turnover of day-to-day
operations to the Afghan government in June 2011, and the final combat units
of ISAF pull out by August 2011.
September 2011: Riots in Colombo mark the final failure of the Disarmament,
Demobilization, and Reintegration process in Sri Lanka between the Tamil
minority and the Sinhalese majority. Guerrilla war, so far involving only
small arms, begins in the north of the island.
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