India: Events after 1960

During a National Emergency in India, declared under Article 352 of the Constitution, certain Fundamental Rights of citizens can be suspended. Specifically, Article 19 (which guarantees freedoms like speech and assembly) is automatically suspended, and the right to move courts for the enforcement of other rights can also be suspended by presidential order. Moral and political rights are not formal constitutional categories suspended in this manner.

India successfully conducted its first underground nuclear test, code-named Smiling Buddha, on May 18, 1974, at the Pokhran Test Range in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan. A second series of tests, known as Pokhran-II, was conducted at the same site in May 1998. Jaipur and Jaisalmer are major cities in Rajasthan but were not the sites of these nuclear tests.

In 1974, the prominent socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan (often called JP) led a massive student-led movement in Bihar against corruption and the authoritarian policies of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. This movement, which called for a 'Total Revolution', eventually led to the imposition of the National Emergency in 1975 and the defeat of the Congress party in the 1977 elections.

Indira Gandhi first took office as the Prime Minister of India in January 1966, following the sudden demise of Lal Bahadur Shastri. She served until 1977, and later served another term from 1980 to 1984.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, as India's first Prime Minister and Minister of External Affairs, formulated the core principles of India's foreign policy, including Panchsheel and the Non-Aligned Movement.

Lal Bahadur Shastri passed away in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (then part of the Soviet Union), on January 11, 1966, shortly after signing the Tashkent Declaration that ended the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War.

The slogan "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan" (Hail the Soldier, Hail the Farmer) was coined by India's second Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri, in 1965 to enthuse soldiers defending the nation and farmers increasing food production.

The 1962 war was fought between India and China over disputed border regions, particularly across the McMahon Line in the northeast and Aksai Chin in the west.

Goa, Daman, and Diu were under Portuguese colonial rule for over 450 years until they were liberated by the Indian Armed Forces during Operation Vijay in December 1961.