2003 in India

See also: 2002 in India, other events of 2003, 2004 in India and the Timeline of Indian history.

Facts

• Parliament worked for 133 days in 2003.

Events

• February 5 – 9 – Aero-India show is held in Bangalore.
• August 25 – 52 killed in two bomb blasts in Mumbai, India.
• Mulayam Singh Yadav is elected chief minister of Uttar Pradesh after Mayawati resigns

Diplomacy

• January 26 – The president of Iran, Mohammad Khatami, is the guest at the Republic Day celebration.

• April 18 – Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, at his first rally in Srinagar, makes a historic announcement of a peace initiative with Pakistan.

• May 31 – Prime Minister Vajpayee has the rare honour of joining the head table at the 300th foundation day of St. Petersburg with Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush.

• June 22 – Vajpayee is in China. India concedes that Tibet is an integral part of China. China agrees to recognise Sikkim's accession to India.

• July 14 – India refuses to send troops to Iraq.

• September 9 – Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, makes the first ever visit by an Israeli PM to India even as neighbour Pakistan raises eyebrows and Islamic countries watch silently.

• September 24 – US President George W. Bush invites Vajpayee to lunch in New York during Vajpayee's US trip. It is considered an important meet for Indo-US relations. Several deals are struck on civilian nuclear technology, space, hi-tech trade and missile defence.

• October 6 – Vajpayee visits Bali for the second time in 2 years.

• October 22 – India announces confidence-building measures with respect to Indo-Pakistani relations: more buses, flights, higher mission strength, etc.

• November 15 – Vajpayee visits Syria.