India and Pakistan: 60 years of Independence

1858 - India comes under rule of the British crown after failed Indian mutiny.

1920-22 - Mahatma Gandhi launches anti-British civil disobedience campaign.

1947 - End of British rule; partition of sub-continent into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority state of Pakistan.

1948 - Gandhi assassinated by Hindu extremist.

1948 - War with Pakistan over disputed territory of Kashmir.

1951-52 - Jawaharlal Nehru leads Congress Party to win in first general election

1962 - India loses 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.

1974 - India explodes nuclear device in underground test.

1975 - Indira Gandhi found guilty of electoral malpractice.

1984 - Indira Gandhi assassinated by Sikh bodyguards. Her son, Rajiv, takes over.

1991 - Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers sympathisers assassinate Rajiv Gandhi.

1991 - Economic reform programme introduced

1996 - Hindu nationalist BJP emerges as largest single party.

1998 - Nuclear tests, international condemnation.

1999 - Vajpayee makes bus trip to Pakistan to meet Premier Nawaz Sharif - bilateral Lahore peace declaration.

2000 - One billionth citizen.

2001 - US lifts sanctions imposed after nuclear tests.

2001 - India, Pakistan mass troops on common border amid mounting fears of a looming war.

2002 - India successfully test-fires a nuclear-capable ballistic missile.

2002 - Pakistan tests three surface-to-surface Ghauri missiles, capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

2004 - India seeks permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

2007 April - India's first commercial space rocket is launched

2007 May - 9.4% growth in the year to March - strongest economic growth figures in two decades

1947 - Muslim state of East and West Pakistan created.

1948 - War with India over Kashmir.

1956 - Pakistan becomes an Islamic republic.

1958 - Martial law declared; General Ayyub Khan takes over.

1965 - War with India over Kashmir.

1969 - General Ayyub Khan resigns; General Yahya Khan takes over.

1971 - Bangladesh formed after East Pakistan attempts to secede.

1973 - Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto becomes prime minister.

1978 - General Zia becomes president.

1979 - Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto hanged.

1985 - Martial law; political parties ban lifted.

1986 - Benazir Bhutto returns from exile to lead PPP in fresh elections.

1988 November - Benazir Bhutto's PPP wins election.

1990 - Bhutto dismissed on charges of incompetence and corruption.

1991 - Shariah law incorporated into legal code.

1998 - Pakistan conducts nuclear tests.

1999 - Benazir Bhutto and husband convicted of corruption.

1999 - Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif overthrown in military coup led by General Pervez Musharraf.

2001 - Gen Pervez Musharraf names himself president.

2002 - Pakistan test fires three medium-range surface-to-surface missiles.

2002 - First general election since the 1999 military coup - hung parliament.

2003 - Pakistan declares a Kashmir ceasefire.

2004 - Pakistan readmitted to Commonwealth.

2004 - Shaukat Aziz becomes prime minister.

2005 - Pakistan tests nuclear-capable cruise missile.

2006 - Pakistan test fires a short-range missile capable of carrying a warhead.

2007 June - President Musharraf extends media controls to the internet and mobile phones.