India in 1998 was a rapidly developing nation of over 1 billion people. It was the second most populous country in the world and had a diverse population of various religions, ethnicities, and languages. It was divided into 28 states and 7 union territories, with its capital city being New Delhi. See dentistrymyth for India in the year of 2015.
The economy of India in 1998 was largely driven by agriculture, which accounted for around 27% of the country’s GDP. However, services were becoming increasingly important as well as manufacturing and industry. Despite this growth, poverty levels were still high with almost one-third of the population living below the poverty line. Education levels were also low; only around 50% of children attended primary school and only about 25% attended secondary school.
The political situation in 1998 was relatively stable despite occasional protests from opposition parties against government policies such as austerity measures or privatization initiatives. In response, the government implemented policies aimed at promoting economic development through increased investment in infrastructure projects as well as education reform initiatives such as free primary school education for all children. Despite these efforts however, much work still needed to be done in order for India’s citizens to experience real economic prosperity and social progress.
Yearbook 1998
India. In February/March, a new election was held for Parliament. The Hindu Nationalist Indian People’s Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was able to form government together with a dozen smaller parties, but only after difficult negotiations. Several of the coalition parties had their own ambitions, which were as strong as the desire to cooperate within the government. New Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee soon had trouble with the biggest coalition partner, the Tamil party AIADMK (All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), whose leader Jayalalitha Jayaram repeatedly threatened to leave the government if she did not meet specific requirements.
According to Countryaah, the capital of India is New Delhi. The Congress Party, All India Congress Committe (I), made a better election than 1996, which was partly attributed to Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who for the first time was openly involved in the party work during the election campaign. In April she was appointed party leader after the aged Sitaram Kesri.
In May, the country conducted five underground nuclear test blasts. The tests caused strong concern about the proliferation of nuclear weapons technology into unstable regions, a concern that escalated after Pakistan’s test blasts at the end of the month. A number of countries and institutions with the United States in the lead exposed India and Pakistan to financial sanctions for persuading them to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (CTBT) and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The sanctions were estimated to cost India $ 2 billion. Sweden interrupted its assistance to India. Within the country, nuclear tests first triggered strong patriotism, but after the Pakistani blasts, the opposition criticized the government for provoking a nuclear weapons armament.
In the divided Kashmir, the tension increased during the summer. Hundreds of people, most of them civilians, were killed in artillery battles across the station line. During the autumn, however, a series of talks at the State Secretary level were held between the two countries. The talks gave no concrete results but contributed to some relaxation.
Discouragement over I’s deteriorating international status increased after the BJP government’s first budget, described as protectionist. Defense spending increased by 14% and import duties increased by 8%, a figure that the government was forced to halve after protests from the business community. New government bonds, especially aimed at Indians living abroad, would counteract the consequences of the world’s financial sanctions. The rupee’s rapid fall in the fall and drastic price increases on basic foods diminished the government’s popularity. The Congress party had great successes in the state elections in November, while the BJP declined strongly.
- Abbreviationfinder: What does IND stand for in geography? Here, this 3 letter acronym refers to the country of India.
According to a report by the aid organization Christian Aid in May 2005, the fierce liberalization policy has led to a crisis in agriculture, a rising debt in the countryside and a widespread wave of suicides among poor small farmers. In the state of Andhra Pradesh alone, 4,000 small farmers have committed suicide, their liberalizations accelerated.
Thousands died in Kashmir as a result of the October 2005 earthquake in Pakistan. In the Indian part alone 1000 died, 3000 were wounded and thousands of houses were reduced to ruins. In the affected areas, resentment towards the government grew as a result of the frugal and deficient relief of the Indian government. Emergency relief work was predominantly coordinated and carried out by the military.
At least 55 were killed and another 100 injured in late October following bomb attacks against 3 markets in New Delhi. Attacks that were characterized by Prime Minister Singh as terrorism. The attacks took place in two Hindu and Muslim festivals – the Hindu festival of light, Dwali and the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. The first attack took place in the populous Paharganj market in downtown New Delhi; the next on the Sarojini Nagar market in southern Delhi, which is popular with middle-class and foreign tourists; the third in the Govindpuri market, also located in the southern part of the city.
After 30 years of sanctions and 2 years of negotiations, the US and India signed a cooperation agreement in July on the use of nuclear energy for civilian purposes. Acc. New Delhi, the country has “no reason to increase its nuclear arsenal”. In October 2008, India and the United States signed a new nuclear power supply agreement, while giving India the IAEA access to inspect its civilian nuclear installations. However, India has still not signed the Non-Proliferation Agreement (NPT).
After a dirty election campaign marked by personal attacks, the Congress party’s Prathiba Patil beat the incumbent vice-president and leader of the nationalist Hindu party Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, thus becoming the country’s first female president. Despite her deep faith, Patil is a symbol of the secular in India, and her political life has been marked by efforts in the social sphere and especially the conditions of the poorest caste.
India-China relations improved rapidly from 2006. In November, Chinese President Hu Jintao visited India and the same year Nathula opened the pass between the two countries after being closed for 40 years. In January 2008, Prime Minister Singh visited China. In 2010, China became India’s second largest trading partner.
India has also strengthened relations with Afghanistan and is now one of the country’s largest aid providers. In August 2008, Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited, and India then took the opportunity to increase its assistance in building schools, roads and health clinics. India wants closer relations with Afghanistan to weaken Pakistan’s influence and to stave off a return for the Taliban that will not give India the same influence.
At the same time, India has built closer relations with Israel characterized by mutual investment. At the same time, Israel has increased its military exports to India, so it is now close to catching up with Russia, which remains India’s most important military equipment supplier.
At the same time, India is also aiming for a close relationship with Iran, continuing negotiations on an oil pipeline from Iran through Pakistan to India.
