India: 1960-2000 By dthieme 1962 India loses brief border war with China. 1964 Death of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. 1965 Second war with Pakistan over Kashmir. 1966 Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi becomes prime minister. 1971 Third war with Pakistan over creation of Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan. 1971 Twenty-year treaty of friendship signed with Soviet Union. 1974 India explodes first nuclear device in underground test. 1975 Indira Gandhi declares state of emergency after being found guilty of electoral malpractice. Period: 1975 to 1977 Nearly 1,000 political opponents imprisoned and programme of compulsory birth control introduced. 1977 Indira Gandhi's Congress Party loses general elections. 1980 Indira Gandhi returns to power heading Congress party splinter group, Congress 1984 Troops storm Golden Temple - Sikhs' most holy shrine - to flush out Sikh militants pressing for self-rule. 1984 Indira Gandhi assassinated by Sikh bodyguards, following which her son, Rajiv, takes over. 1984 Gas leak at Union Carbide pesticides plant in Bhopal. Thousands are killed immediately, many more subsequently die or are left disabled. 1987 India deploys troops for peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict. 1989 Falling public support leads to Congress defeat in general election. 1990 Indian troops withdrawn from Sri Lanka. 1990 Muslim separatist groups begin campaign of violence in Kashmir. 1991 Rajiv Gandhi assassinated by suicide bomber sympathetic to Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers. 1991 Economic reform programme begun by Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao. 1992 Hindu extremists demolish mosque in Ayodhya, triggering widespread Hindu-Muslim violence. 1996 Congress suffers worst ever electoral defeat as Hindu nationalist BJP emerges as largest single party. 1998 BJP forms coalition government under Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. 1998 India carries out nuclear tests, leading to widespread international condemnation. 1999 Vajpayee makes historic bus trip to Pakistan to meet Premier Nawaz Sharif and to sign bilateral Lahore peace declaration. 1999 Cyclone devastates eastern state of Orissa, leaving at least 10,000 dead. 1999 Tension in Kashmir leads to brief war with Pakistan-backed forces in the icy heights around Kargil in Indian-held Kashmir. 2000 India marks the birth of its billionth citizen. 2000 US President Bill Clinton makes a groundbreaking visit to improve ties.
