Crisis Chronology

INDIA

12/19/2023

141 members of parliament suspended for protesting the security breach of 12/13. Most of the suspended MPs are part of the INDIA alliance, a coalition of opposition parties that hopes to take on Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in next year's general election. The alliance has 142 MPs in the 543-member Lok Sabha - the lower house of parliament - of which 95 have now been suspended. It has 101 MPs in the 250-member upper house or Rajya Sabha (a few seats are vacant) - of these, 46 have been suspended. 78 were suspended on 12/18 and the rest on 12/19. They are barred for the rest of the winter session, which ends on 12/22/23, but the government can suspend them for longer.

12/13/2023

Two intruders enter the Lok Sabha on the anniversary of the deadly militant attack on parliament in 2001. They were caught.

12/11/2023

Supreme Court upholds 2019 decision by the government of Prime Minister Modi to revoke special status for the state of Jammu and Kashmir and sets a deadline of 9/3024 for local elections.

09/18/2023

Canada accuses India of assassinating a Sikh separatist living in British Columbia. Hardeep Singh Nijjar was an activist with the Khalistan movement, which seeks to form a breakaway state that would be named Khalistan in the Punjab region. India denies responsibility. The two countries subsequently expel diplomatic personnel.

08/31/2023

China issues new map showing its claims to territory contested by India, causing new rupture in their relationship.

08/04/2023

Supreme Court stays Rahul Gandhi’s conviction for defamation, allowing him to be reinstated to parliament and to campaign for prime minister, if he so chooses, in 2024.

07/14/2023

Rocket launch intended to land a spacecraft on the moon.

06/24/2023

Seventeen opposition parties agree to join forces to defeat Modi in 2024 election, uniting to nominate candidates.

06/22/2023

President Modi makes state visit to US, meeting President Biden and signing major agreements.US wants India as an ally in containing China. Biden deflects criticism of Modi’s policies on Muslims in India.

04/15/2023

Former legislator Atiq Ahmed, convicted of kidnapping, is shot dead on live television along with his brother Ashraf Ahmed while police are escorting them for a medical check-up.

03/23/2023

The lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha, disqualifies Gandhi from holding office.

03/22/2023

Court finds Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi guilty of defamation because of a remark about Modi’s surname and sentences him to two years in jail. He said, “Why do all thieves have Modi as their surname?” and named two men unrelated to the prime minister.

03/02/2023

Supreme Court orders the creation of a bipartisan panel that will include the prime minister and the chief justice to select the country’s election commissioners, ending a practice of the government effectively choosing them. The panel will also include the leader of the opposition in the lower house of parliament or the leader of the opposition party with the highest number of members in the house.

12/20/2022

India moves a large number of troops to border with China.

12/12/2022

India has become the fastest-growing economy in the world.

12/12/2022

Clashes between Chinese and Indian troops on the border between the two countries.

11/05/2022

Smog forces schools to close in New Delhi.

10/19/2022

Congress party elects Mallikarjun Kharge part president, defeating Sashi Tharoor. He is the first non-Ghandi in 24 years and the first Dalit to hold the office.

09/09/2022

India restricts rice export after below-average monsoon rainfall.

09/08/2022

Chinese and Indian troops disengaging from confrontation on the western border of the Himalayas, two years after conflict began. Xi and Modi are to meet in Uzbekistan next week.

08/19/2022

Government allows anyone living in Kashmir, even temporarily, to vote in elections. A large percentage of these would be the military and government personnel.

07/22/2022

Parliament elects Droupadi Murmu, a woman from the Santhal tribe, to be president, with BJP support.

05/13/2022

Government announces temporary ban on export of wheat. In the midst of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has decreased both Ukrainian and Russian wheat exports, the ban draws criticism. Government points the heat wave limiting wheat for its own citizens.

05/06/2022

Temperatures remain historically high throughout the country. Temperatures above 88° and humidity above 95% create what is called wet bulb conditions, in which sweat does not evaporate from the body, so the body is unable to cool itself and cooks itself from within.

04/29/2022

Highest temperatures in 122 years. Heat waves beginning in March, two months early.

04/25/2022

EU and India sign agreement to work together on technology, security, and trade.

04/18/2022

Violence between Muslims and Hindus at a Hindu festival.

03/29/2022

General strike spreads to large portions of the country. Many groups are protesting the increasing privatization of government businesses.

03/10/2022

The BJP candidate appears likely to win in Uttar Pradesh. The Aam Aadmi Party is ahead in Punjab, which would make it the first regional party to control two states. The Congress Party continues its decline.

02/21/2022

Three Congress party members join the Aam Admi Party.

02/20/2022

Voting in Punjab for chief minister. The current chief minister from the Congress Party is Charanjit Singh Channi. He is being strongly challenged by other party candidates. While the Congress Party hopes to continue in return to power and use this election as a springboard, the party is in disarray and being strongly challenged by others. The leading challenger is from the Aam Admi (Common Man) Party, an anti-corruption party led by Manish Sisodia.

02/08/2022

Increasingly overt calls by Hindu monks for a campaign to eliminate Muslims from India, in some cases violently. Government appears to be doing little to rein them in.

02/01/2022

Government presents budget that increase spending to drive economic growth at the expense of a larger budget deficit and increased borrowing.

12/27/2021

Government attempting to redraw electoral maps in Jammu and Kashmir to give Hindu-majority Jammu more authority.

12/01/2021

President Ram Nath Kovind signs bill formally repealing agricultural laws the engendered the years of protest by farmers.

11/19/2021

Modi says he will ask parliament to repeal the laws the farmers are protesting. They approve but say they will continue their protests until the laws are actually repealed.

11/17/2021

Five people suspected of being independence advocates, or rebels of The Resistance Group (TRF) are killed in Kashmir by Indian police. Tension and violence are rising.

11/15/2021

Mamata Banerjee, the popular chief minister of West Bengal, increasingly well-known as critic of Modi. Modi remains popular, however, and elections are about two years away.

11/15/2021

Supreme Court calls for Delhi to lock down due to toxic smog that is covering the city.

11/15/2021

Supreme Court calls for Delhi to lock down due to toxic smog that is covering the city.

10/20/2021

Clashes between Hindus and Muslims increasing.

10/11/2021

Talks on the military situation between India and China end without progress.

10/04/2021

Farmers say they will intensify their protests after some protests are killed in Uttar Pradesh. Their protests outside New Delhi continue, last week marking a year.

09/21/2021

Presidents Macron and Modi announce that they will cooperate in the Indo-Pacific region. India is also angry at the US, which denied it nuclear-powered submarines, Modi has said.

09/05/2021

Thousands of farmers continue protest. BJP MP Varun Gandhi urges government to “reengage” with them.

07/23/2021

Heavy rains in the west cause severe flooding and at least dozens of deaths.

07/07/2021

Modi dismisses 12 cabinet ministers following intense criticisms over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

06/07/2021

After widespread criticism of COVID-19 vaccine program, Modi takes control of it and announces that all adults may receive the vaccine. COVID-19 cases lowering, and some cities are lifting restrictions.

05/02/2021

BJP again fails to win West Bengal, but makes gains in the regional legislature.

04/27/2021

India now ravaged by COVID-19 and a local variant. Hospitals are overwhelmed. After a relatively successful response to the first wave, the government allowed people to attend mass political rallies and the Kumbh Mela, religious festival that occurs every twelve years in which people bathe their sins away in the Ganges. It is not clear if this will affect Modi’s very strong popularity numbers.

04/20/2021

Second wave of COVID-19 infections and deaths overwhelming hospitals and other support institutions. Modi does not issue stay-at-home restrictions, however, and directs states to try to avoid severe restrictions.

03/23/2021

Farmers’ protest continues, now at 120 days.

03/22/2021

Farmers’ protest continues, now at 120 days.

03/06/2021

Farmers continue their protests against new laws.

02/25/2021

India-Pakistan ceasefire

India and Pakistan agree to stop cross-border shooting. The landmark agreement was brokered by the United Arab Emirates, according to reports a week later.

02/11/2021

India and China announce that they will be withdrawing troops from the disputed Ladakh area.

01/26/2021

Sporadic fighting between Chinese and Indian troops on the Himalayan border continues.

01/26/2021

Farmers break through police lines and enter New Delhi, massing at the Red Fort on Republic Day, anniversary of the signing of the constitution. One protestor dies and 400 police are injured.

01/12/2021

Supreme Court suspends two of the farming economy laws until a committee of experts, appointed by the court, could consult with government officials and protesting farmers to try to find a solution to the dispute. Farmers see this as an evasion to reduce pressure on Modi.

12/09/2020

India army chief visits UAE and Saudi Arabia to discuss “strategic and defence cooperation,” the first visit by an Indian head of the military.

12/08/2020

Farmers’ protests continue, now called Bharat Bandh, or “nationwide strike.” Five rounds of talks between farmers and the government have produced no agreement.

12/03/2020

Large protests about new agriculture law.

09/25/2020

Large protests against new farm laws.

09/23/2020

India and China agree to stop sending more troops to the border.

09/20/2020

Parliament passes highly controversial farming legislation. It says that the laws will allow farmers to sell directly to large retailers, bypassing middlemen. The opposition says believes the laws will destroy wholesale markets that ensure fair and timely payments to farmers and weaken the state's farmers and the overall state economy, and that farmers' bargaining power will be diminished by allowing retailers to have tighter control over them.

09/11/2020

India and China agree to work to reduce tensions on the border.

09/08/2020

China accuses Indian troops of crossing the Line of Actual Control on the border and firing on Chinese troops. India denies this and accuses the Chinese of firing on Indian troops, though they did not cross the LAC.

09/05/2020

India and China agree to reduce tensions along their common border. China simultaneously says that India was responsible for the violence.

09/04/2020

After new surge in COVID-19 cases, India now has more than 4,000,000 cases and nearly 70,000 deaths.

09/01/2020

Substantial economic downturn in the second quarter, largely due to COVID-19 pandemic.

08/11/2020

Supreme Court rules that daughters have equal inheritance rights as sons.

06/19/2020

China returns 10 Indian soldiers captured during the recent attacks.

06/17/2020

China calls for an end to clashes along the India-China border.

06/16/2020

Twenty Indian soldiers killed in a fight on northern border in the Galwan River valley. India says that Chinese soldiers were injured. China accuses India of crossing the border. It seems that no weapons with ammunition were used, however.

06/10/2020

Parliament of Nepal approves a new map of Nepal that includes territory that India considers its own.

06/08/2020

Government begins ending stay-at-home restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic in lower-risk areas, though they will remain in high-risk ones. Unemployment is very high and the economy wobbly, but Modi’s popularity remains high, perhaps due to him projecting decisive leadership, asserting India against Pakistan, and high international recognition.

06/08/2020

India and China agree to “peacefully resolve” their border dispute.

06/04/2020

India and Australia sign military agreements in response to Chinese expansion in the South China Sea.

06/03/2020

Cyclone Nisarga hits Mumbai.

05/27/2020

India says that thousands of Chinese troops have massed on it border, as many as 10,000 in areas India considers its territory: Pangong Tso Lake, Galwan Valley and Demchok in Ladakh, and Nathu La in Sikkim. India sends sends several battalions to the area. There is widespread concern about the possibility of conflict.

05/27/2020

India suffering its worst locust attack in 50 years. As in Africa, the locusts have burgeoned due to heavy rains and cyclones in the Indian Ocean last year, leading to increased locust reproduction this year.

05/27/2020

India says that thousands of Chinese troops have massed on it border, as many as 10,000 in areas India considers its territory: Pangong Tso Lake, Galwan Valley and Demchok in Ladakh, and Nathu La in Sikkim. India sends sends several battalions to the area. There is widespread concern about the possibility of conflict.

05/27/2020

India suffering its worst locust attack in 50 years. As in Africa, the locusts have burgeoned due to heavy rains and cyclones in the Indian Ocean last year, leading to increased locust reproduction this year.

05/24/2020

India suffers largest one-day increase in COVID-19 cases, about 6800. The country has a total of about 145,000 cases and 4100 deaths.

05/19/2020

Millions are evacuated from areas of India and Bangladesh in anticipation of super cyclone Amphan.

05/17/2020

India extends stay-at-home order until 5/31, although some areas will have COVID-19 restrictions relaxed. It now has more than 95,000 cases but about 3000 deaths, a relatively now number relative to the number of cases.

04/28/2020

Government extends Kashmir high-speed internet ban.

04/20/2020

Some manufacturing and agricultural activity allowed to reopen. There is a sharp increase in new cases.

04/13/2020

Exchange of fire between India and Pakistan in Kashmir.

04/13/2020

Government extends stay at home order until 5/3.

03/22/2020

Most very large cities impose stay at home rules due to COVID-19. Though only 415 cases have been confirmed so far, there is fear of a much larger outbreak.

02/26/2020

Protests continue, increasingly characterized by religious militancy.

02/25/2020

Protests in Delhi turn violent, with more than twenty killed. They have also become more religious, with Hindus attacking Muslims. The Delhi High Court, hearing petitions about the violence, warns it cannot allow more violence, recalling the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Modi calls for calm.

02/24/2020

Protests in New Delhi during US Pres Trump’s visit. They object to the visit and to the citizenship act.

02/16/2020

India tells Turkey not to interfere in Indian domestic matters after Erdogan and Pakistani PM Khan issue a joint statement condemning the lockdown in Jammu and Kashmir.

02/11/2020

In legislative elections for the New Delhi assembly, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAM, the Party of the Common Man, led by incumbent Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal) is leading in 60 of the 70 seats. Modi’s BJP is leading in only seven.

02/01/2020

New budget offers little boost to the economy despite the stagnation in the country.

01/14/2020

Government foresees serious drop in job creation in 2020.

01/10/2020

Supreme Court orders government to review internet shutdown in Kashmir.

01/04/2020

Protests continue. Protestors are attacked by masked assailants. Some believe these to be associated with the BJP.

12/26/2019

Protests continue. Uttar Pradesh blocks the internet ahead of protests expected 12/27.

12/21/2019

Protests continue despite further government efforts to suppress them.

12/21/2019

Protests continue despite further government efforts to suppress them.

12/19/2019

Governments of Uttar Pradesh and other cities ban protests against the citizenship law, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Some protests are held in defiance.

12/19/2019

Governments of Uttar Pradesh and other cities ban protests against the citizenship law, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Some protests are held in defiance.

12/16/2019

Protests, some violent, grow across India against citizenship law.

12/16/2019

Protests continue to grow.

12/11/2019

Lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha, passes controversial citizenship bill that allows “persecuted” immigrants -- Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians -- from neighboring countries to become citizens unless they are Muslim.

11/10/2019

India and Pakistan open a new border crossing for Sikh pilgrims that does not require a visa.

11/08/2019

Supreme Court allows Hindus to build a temple at Ayodhya. In 1992, Hindu extremists tore down a 16th century mosque at the site in Ayodhya, an act that set off deadly communal riots across the country. Muslims will be given another place to build a mosque.

11/05/2019

Pollution in major cities reaches highly dangerous level. In the fall, farmers burn off their fields and the month-long festival of Diwali is celebrated with fireworks.

10/31/2019

Government formally splits Kashmir into two states, one named Jammu and Kashmir and the other named Ladakh.

10/28/2019

Second grenade attack in two days, in northern Kashmir, a few days ahead of a visit by right-wing EU officials.

10/18/2019

Schools and shops remain closed as a form of citizen protest against the absorption of Kashmir.

10/12/2019

Modi and China Pres Xi conclude two days of informal discussions, though there seems to have been no substantive results. The border dispute continues.

09/30/2019

Kashmir remains in lockdown by the government, but also by antigovernment agitators. Almost all the province’s leadership are in jail. The anti-government militants are intending to make the situation so bad that the government cannot ignore the suffering.

08/28/2019

Protests growing in Kashmir.

08/21/2019

Two killed in gun battle in Kashmir, the first clash since the lockdown began. Pakistan reports that three Pakistanis are killed in firing across the Line of Control and India reports that a soldier was killed by Pakistani troops firing across the Line. Protests have been held in Srinigar.

08/11/2019

Scattered protests in Kashmir, which remains locked down by government forces.

08/07/2019

Pakistan downgrades diplomatic ties and suspends trade with India.

08/07/2019

Taliban attack in Kabul, just days after the beginning of Eid. Peace talks with Taliban are nonetheless progressing and may have affected India’s decision about Kasmir. One observer suggests that India fears that after a settlement in Afghanistan, Pakistan would direct more of the Pakistani-allied jihadist groups, who operate in Afghanistan and Kashmir, against India.

08/06/2019

Pakistan calls for international intervention in Kashmir and Jammu. Khan arranges to address the UN Security Council.

08/05/2019

The upper house approves the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill that would make Kashmir a union territory with a legislature and Ladakh a union territory without a legislature.

08/03/2019

Government removes Article 370, which gives special autonomous authority from the Muslim government of Jammu and Kashmir. The territory is held under strict control and thousands of troops are detailed to the territory. All telephone landlines and cable television service is interrupted indefinitely. There is a ban on gatherings of more than four people and strict curfew.

06/19/2019

Heat wave causes hundreds of deaths.

05/31/2019

Modi shuffles cabinet positions, giving some more power to the nationalists.

05/31/2019

US ends special preferential trade agreement with India.

05/23/2019

BJP retains power

Nearly complete returns suggest that the BJP will win easily, taking more than 300 seats and assuring Modi of another term as prime minister.

05/19/2019

As final round of voting concludes, exit polls suggest that the BJP will win handily and give Modi another term.

03/27/2019

Pakistan shoots down at least one Indian fighter jet. Military forces are massing on both sides of the border.

03/26/2019

Government says it has successfully tested anti-satellite missile.

03/11/2019

India sets elections for the lower house, the Lok Sabha, for 4/11, 4/18, 4/23, 4/29, 5/6, 5/12, and 5/19. The announcement imposes the code of conduct, a set of rules meant to provide free and fair elections. The government is not allowed to propose new programs and there can no appeal to religious or ethnic sentiments in campaigning.

03/02/2019

Shelling across the border between India and Pakistan; there are some killed. Reports suggest that India’s bombing run did not hit any militant targets.

03/01/2019

Indian pilot whose aircraft was downed returns to India.

02/28/2019

Pakistani media shows images of downed Indian pilot being treated well and says it will return the soldier. Indian protests that displaying prisoners for propaganda purposes violates the Geneva Convention.

02/26/2019

India carries out airstrikes on suspected Islamist militant camps in Pakistan.

01/08/2019

Large left-leaning trade unions begin two-day strike to protest Modi policies that they call anti-worker.

12/11/2018

Results in five large states show that the BJP lost more than 100 seats. The Congress Party wins a similar number.

11/26/2018

Indian intelligence agencies report a build-up of Chinese presence near the Line of Actual Control in Kashmir.

10/05/2018

Russia Pres Putin in India to sign more than twenty agreements to provide assistance in energy, space, defense, the economy. The largest is a $5 billion agreement for an air defense system that would violate US sanctions against trading with the Russian defense and intelligence sectors.

10/04/2018

India deports seven Rohingya to Myanmar, to criticism by rights groups. PM Modi has called for all 40,000+ Rohingya in India to be returned to Myanmar.

06/22/2018

India imposes tariffs on US goods in response to new US tariffs.

06/22/2018

India imposes tariffs on US goods in response to new US tariffs.

01/20/2018

New outbreak of fighting between India and Pakistan military on Kashmir border.

01/18/2018

India successfully tests ballistic missile capable to reaching any part of China. The disagreement about Doklam continues.

01/03/2018

After violence against Dalits on New Year’s Eve, substantial protests against both major political parties erupt in Mumbai.

12/19/2017

Ahead of talks with India about Doklam, China strengthens its military forces in the area.

12/16/2017

Rahul Gandhi becomes head of Congress Party. Sonia Gandhi steps down but remains in the party.