Note: Many of our articles have direct quotes from sources you can cite, within the Wikipedia article! This article doesn't yet, but we're working on it! See more info or our list of citable articles.
1 January - Authorities detain 45 Hindus in connection with attacks on Christians in the state of
Gujarat.
23 January - An Australian Christian missionary and his two sons are reportedly
burnt to death by suspected Hindu fundamentalists. This aggravates
a furore over attacks on churches and chapels and tarnishes the government's image
within and outside the country.
30 January - Tourism and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madan Lal
Khurana resigns from the cabinet over the recent violence
against minority Christians. Khurana, a veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
leader, says he is concerned at the loss of image the party
suffered following the attacks on Christians. There has been
considerable speculation that Hindu hardliners allied with the BJP
have been behind the attacks.
30 January - MaharashtraChief MinisterManohar Joshi resigns on orders from Bal Thackeray, the
autocratic boss of the right-wing Hindu Shiv Sena party. It is speculated that Joshi
may have been fired for failing to prevent the arrest of party
activists who trashed a cricket board office in protest against the
India-Pakistan series. Thackeray had launched a violent campaign to
prevent the series, saying the two neighbours should not hold
sports events while they continue to fight over the border state of
Kashmir.
31 January - India and the United States end three days of talks on
nuclear non-proliferation issues, declaring the meeting
"productive" and promising to resume discussions before the middle
of the year.
February
12 February - The chief minister of Orissa, Janaki Ballabh Patnaik, resigns
after pressure within and outside his Congress Party over recent
mob attacks on Christians in the state. On February 15 Giridhar
Gomango is named to succeed him.
12 February - Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee sacks the
government of Bihar, which is run by an opposition party,
and imposes federal rule.
20 February - Vajpayee makes a goodwill visit to Pakistan on the maiden trip
of a cross-border bus service.
23 February - At the end of a ground-breaking visit to Pakistan
by Prime Minister Vajpayee, the two countries agree to work harder
on their Kashmir dispute and announce steps to defuse tension and
reduce risk of nuclear war.
27 February - Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha unveils a budget which
promises to kickstart the infrastructure sector and boost stock
markets.
March
8 March - The government reverses its decision on federal rule
in Bihar to avert humiliation in a vote on the issue in the upper
house.
5 April - The cabinet rejects an AIADMK demand for the
dismissal of Defense Minister George Fernandes and the reinstatement
of the navy chief. It says it is ready for a trial of strength in
parliament.
6 April - The AIADMK withdraws two of its representatives from
the Council of Ministers.
11 April - India says it has successfully test-fired a
longer-range model of its Agni ballistic
missile.
13 April - Tercentenary celebrations of the creation of the Sikh, Khalsa.
14 April - The AIADMK withdraws support from the ruling
coalition. President K.R. Narayanan asks
the government to seek a confidence vote in parliament.
17 April - India's 13-month-old BJP-led government falls after
losing a confidence motion by just one vote.
26 April - India's parliament is dissolved and early elections
are called.
28 April - At least 39 people die when a train rams a crowded
bus in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
May
11 May - India's Supreme Court confirms death
sentences for four of the 26 people convicted of conspiring to
assassinate former prime ministerRajiv Gandhi in May 1991.
17 May - Sonia
Gandhi resigns as head of India's main opposition Congress
party after criticism from three senior colleagues. Congress expels
the three for six years on May 20. She withdraws the decision on
May 24.
26 May - India unleashes two waves of air strikes to flush out
guerrillas on its side of a Kashmir ceasefire line, sharply raising
temperatures in the region. The next day India confirms it has lost
two fighter jets which Pakistan says they shot down.
28 May - In Kashmir, a stinger missile brings down an Indian
helicopter killing all on board.
June
7 June - India says it has forced guerrilla infiltrators in Kashmir
back towards the ceasefire line with Pakistan, and killed 221
Pakistani soldiers in the offensive.
12 June - India and Pakistan hold "businesslike" talks over
their Kashmir dispute but fail to resolve it; India says Pakistan
tried to infiltrate the Turtuk Sector and puts the death toll at
267 Pakistanis and 86 Indians.
July
4 July - India says it has recaptured the strategic Tiger Hill
on its side of a military line of control in Kashmir.
9 July - In Kashmir, the Indian army reports that it has all
but ousted the infiltrators from the Batalik zone on India's side
of the ceasefire line.
11 July - India recaptures Kargil, forcing the Pakistan Army to retreat. India announces
victory ending the two-month conflict.
17 July - India signals the end of the flare-up with Pakistan
by announcing that all infiltrators have withdrawn from Indian-held
Kashmir.
26 July - India says its troops have cleared all infiltrators
from their side of the Line of Control that divides Kashmir.
August
2 August - Two crowded trains collide head-on at a railway
station in eastern India, killing 286 people.
10 August - The Atlantique Incident occurs as an
intruding Pakistan
Navy plane is shot down in the contested area the Rann of Kachchh dispute. The incident
sparks tensions between the 2 nations, coming just a month after
the end of the Kargil
War.
15 August - India says Pakistan's aid to guerrillas in Kashmir
is hindering peace talks between them.
September
4 September - Indian forces rescue five of the six men held
hostage by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir; the other hostage was
killed by the terrorists.
4 September, 11, 18, 25, and October 3 - Parliamentary
elections are held, in which the National Democratic Alliance led
by Prime Minister Vajpayee's BJP wins 298 seats, the Congress-led
Alliance 134, and others 105.
October
6 October - A pro-independence Kashmiri group abandons plans to
march into the Indian-ruled part of the Kashmir region.
8 October - India's Supreme Court turns down an appeal by four
co-conspirators sentenced to die in the assassination of former
prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
29 October - A "super-cyclone" slams into the state of Orissa packing winds of
240 km/h and flattening houses across a wide area along the Bay of Bengal.
November
7 November - Forty-two people die in the northern town of Sonepat
after a fire in a market selling firecrackers.
11 November - A bomb explodes in the Delhi-bound Puja Express
from Jammu at Kandrori station, killing 13 and injuring 50.
30 November - India says the death toll in cyclone-hit Orissa State is at least
9,885.
December
24 December - Heavily armed hijackers take over an Indian AirlinesAirbus carrying 189 people
from Kathmandu (Nepal) to New Delhi. After a detour to the United
Arab Emirates, it lands at Kandahar, Afghanistan, on December 25. On December 28
the hijackers make three demands, including the release of 35
terrorists and a sum of $200 million. On December 31 the hijackers,
who stabbed a man on the plane to death, free their hostages after
reaching agreement with India for the release of three terrorists
in Kashmir.
Top topics
Wikis
Map
Search
