NDA Years: Pokhran II, Lahore Summit and Kargil War

At a Glance

• Pokhran II 11 and 13 May 1998; Operation Shakti
• Lahore February 1999; Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif
• Kargil May to 26 July 1999; Operation Vijay
• Second NDA term 13 October 1999 to May 2004
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Modern History: India After Nehru

Where Does It Fit?

This is the tenth topic of the category on India after Nehru. The previous topic covered the instability of 1996-98. This topic covers the NDA governments of Vajpayee from 1998 to 2004. The next topic covers the UPA years. Previous topic: Political Instability 1996-98: Vajpayee, Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral.

How Did the NDA Come to Power and Fall in 1999?

After the 1998 elections the BJP joined several regional parties to form the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), and Atal Bihari Vajpayee was sworn in as Prime Minister in March 1998 for the second time, proving his majority in the Lok Sabha. The government lasted until April 1999, when the AIADMK withdrew from the NDA, and on 17 April 1999 it lost a no-confidence vote by a single vote, generally attributed to Giridhar Gamang, who had become Chief Minister of Orissa but had not resigned from the Lok Sabha. The Opposition could not form an alternative, so President K.R. Narayanan dissolved the Lok Sabha and elections were held in September-October 1999, with Vajpayee as caretaker. Sharad Pawar and some others left the Congress when it chose Sonia Gandhi as its head. The previous election is in Political Instability 1996-98: Vajpayee, Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral.

What Was Pokhran II?

In May 1998 India conducted a series of five nuclear explosions at the Pokhran range, the second such test after 1974, named Operation Shakti. It involved the underground detonation of a regular fission device, fusion devices and a sub-kiloton device. Vajpayee convened a press conference to declare India a full-fledged nuclear state. The main scientists were A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, scientific adviser to the Prime Minister and head of the DRDO, and R. Chidambaram, Director of the Department of Atomic Energy. 11 May is celebrated as National Technology Day. The world, especially the United States, was shocked, as the tests were kept secret, and the US applied the Glenn Amendment for the first time and imposed sanctions, so relations fell to a low. Pakistan carried out its own tests, Chagai I and II, in May 1998, and in June the UN Security Council adopted a resolution condemning both tests. The first test is in Indo-Pak War of 1971 and the Birth of Bangladesh.

What Happened at Lahore and Kargil?

In late 1998 and early 1999 Vajpayee worked on a peace process with Pakistan. The Delhi-Lahore bus service was inaugurated in February 1999, and Vajpayee travelled to Lahore by bus. At the Lahore summit in February 1999 Vajpayee and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif signed the Lahore Declaration, committing to dialogue, trade and friendship, to non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, to immediate steps to reduce the risk of accidental or unauthorised use of nuclear weapons and to discuss nuclear and conventional confidence-building measures, and reaffirming condemnation of terrorism.

Barely three months later it was found that armed militants and Pakistani soldiers had been infiltrating the Kashmir valley and had seized hilltops and unmanned border posts, mainly in Kargil district. It emerged later that the incursion was planned by Pakistan’s military under General Pervez Musharraf and that the civilian Prime Minister had been told only after it was under way. Shepherds told the Indian Army of the intruders in May 1999. The army and the air force, whose operation was called Safed Sagar, acted together, but under orders not to cross the Line of Control. Operation Vijay recaptured the peaks, including Tiger Hill in the Drass sector, which overlooked the Srinagar-Leh highway, the only all-weather link between the two towns. In June Nawaz Sharif reportedly asked the United States to intervene, but President Clinton declined until Pakistani troops withdrew from the Line of Control. Sharif ordered the operation stopped, and by 26 July the war was over with India victorious, though more than 500 Indian soldiers were killed in cold and treacherous terrain. Kargil raised Vajpayee’s standing. The earlier Pakistan wars are in The Lal Bahadur Shastri Years and the Indo-Pak War of 1965 and Indo-Pak War of 1971 and the Birth of Bangladesh.

What Did the Second NDA Government Do?

The 1999 elections took place with the Kargil War fresh in mind, and the NDA, supported by new partners such as the Janata Dal (United) and the DMK, won a majority. Vajpayee was sworn in as Prime Minister for the third time on 13 October 1999. His government carried forward the reforms begun under Narasimha Rao, described in The Narasimha Rao Years: Economic Reform and Panchayati Raj.

What Were the Terrorist Incidents and Relations With Pakistan?

In December 1999 Indian Airlines flight IC 814 from Nepal was hijacked by Pakistani terrorists and flown to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The government met the demand and released three prisoners, among them Maulana Masood Azhar, and the external affairs minister accompanied them to Afghanistan; relations with Pakistan dipped. In July 2001 Vajpayee invited President Pervez Musharraf to a summit at Agra, but no breakthrough came because Musharraf would not set the Kashmir issue aside. In December 2001 terrorists of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed attacked the Parliament House in Delhi, and relations dipped again; the Prevention of Terrorism Act followed. In September 2002 elections in Kashmir, with efforts by the Election Commission to make them free and fair, saw large turnout despite militant threats; the National Conference was voted out and a Congress-People’s Democratic Party alliance came to power with Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as Chief Minister. Relations with the United States improved, with a visit by President Clinton.

What Were the Setbacks and the Verdict of 2004?

In 2001 defence minister George Fernandes had to resign over the Barak missile deal and a scandal on coffins for soldiers killed at Kargil, and an inquiry commission reported that the incursion could have been prevented. A televised sting operation showed the BJP president Bangaru Laxman apparently accepting a bribe. In February 2002 the Sabarmati Express was set on fire at Godhra in Gujarat and several pilgrims returning from Ayodhya were killed; the cause has been debated, as some reports said that a mob set it alight and others pointed to a fire that began inside. Riots followed, with Ahmedabad and Baroda chiefly affected, and Muslims were targeted. Narendra Modi, then Chief Minister of Gujarat, was strongly criticised for failing to control the situation. Vajpayee officially condemned the violence. The Ayodhya background is in The Narasimha Rao Years: Economic Reform and Panchayati Raj.

The NDA lasted almost its full term, the first non-Congress government to do so, and Vajpayee managed the coalition with skill. The government advanced the Lok Sabha dissolution to February 2004 and held elections in April-May 2004, using the slogan India Shining, encouraged by its recent wins in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and by predictions of the press. The NDA was defeated, and the Congress under Sonia Gandhi was the largest party. As an analytical point, the NDA experience showed that a coalition could govern for a full term, which the earlier governments of 1989-98 had not managed. The next government is in The UPA Years, 2004-14.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Pokhran II and the sanctions Dates, code name and reactions are frequent Prelims facts
• Kargil Operation names and dates are standard questions
• Full-term coalition A significant change in the party system

What Came Next?

The next topic covers the UPA government of 2004 to 2014. Next topic: The UPA Years, 2004-14.

Key People and Terms

• Operation Shakti Code name of the May 1998 tests
• Lahore Declaration Signed in February 1999
• Operation Vijay Army operation in Kargil
• Safed Sagar Air Force operation in Kargil
• Golden Quadrilateral Highway project linking the four metros
• POTA Prevention of Terrorism Act

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions ask about nuclear policy and Pakistan relations in this period. These points add depth.

• Nuclear policy Declared status and sanctions
• Pakistan Dialogue and betrayal
• Economy Continued reform