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India loses brief border war with China.
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Death of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
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Second war with Pakistan over Kashmir.
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Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi becomes prime minister.
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Third war with Pakistan over creation of Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan.
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Twenty-year treaty of friendship signed with Soviet Union.
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India explodes first nuclear device in underground test.
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Indira Gandhi declares state of emergency after being found guilty of electoral malpractice.
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Period: to
Nearly 1,000 political opponents imprisoned and programme of compulsory birth control introduced.
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Indira Gandhi's Congress Party loses general elections.
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Indira Gandhi returns to power heading Congress party splinter group, Congress
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Troops storm Golden Temple - Sikhs' most holy shrine - to flush out Sikh militants pressing for self-rule.
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Indira Gandhi assassinated by Sikh bodyguards, following which her son, Rajiv, takes over.
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Gas leak at Union Carbide pesticides plant in Bhopal. Thousands are killed immediately, many more subsequently die or are left disabled.
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India deploys troops for peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict.
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Falling public support leads to Congress defeat in general election.
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Indian troops withdrawn from Sri Lanka.
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Muslim separatist groups begin campaign of violence in Kashmir.
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Rajiv Gandhi assassinated by suicide bomber sympathetic to Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers.
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Economic reform programme begun by Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao.
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Hindu extremists demolish mosque in Ayodhya, triggering widespread Hindu-Muslim violence.
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Congress suffers worst ever electoral defeat as Hindu nationalist BJP emerges as largest single party.
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BJP forms coalition government under Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
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India carries out nuclear tests, leading to widespread international condemnation.
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Vajpayee makes historic bus trip to Pakistan to meet Premier Nawaz Sharif and to sign bilateral Lahore peace declaration.
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Cyclone devastates eastern state of Orissa, leaving at least 10,000 dead.
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Tension in Kashmir leads to brief war with Pakistan-backed forces in the icy heights around Kargil in Indian-held Kashmir.
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India marks the birth of its billionth citizen.
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US President Bill Clinton makes a groundbreaking visit to improve ties.