There is evidence suggesting that some of the earliest civilizations developed independently in different parts of the world, including the Indian subcontinent. The Indus Valley Civilization is considered one of the world's oldest urban civilizations, developing along the Indus River in what is now India and Pakistan in the third millennium BCE. However, it is essential to recognize that several contemporary or even older civilizations coexisted during that time in other regions, such as Sumer and ancient Egypt. The claim that the Indian civilization is the oldest in the world lacks consensus among archaeologists and historians, as multiple cultural centers evolved throughout the ancient world.