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

Events

January to June

• 26 January - The president of Iran, Mohammad Khatami, is the guest at the Republic Day celebration.
• 5 February - 9 February - Aero-India show is held in Bangalore.
• March - India put up a great show at the ICC Cricket World Cup in South Africa after poor performances in the past and go on to the Finals. They were defeated by Australia in the Finals.
• 18 April - Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, at his first rally in Srinagar, makes a historic announcement of a peace initiative with Pakistan.
• 31 May - 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.
• 22 June - Vajpayee is in China. India concedes that Tibet is an integral part of China. China agrees to recognise Sikkim's accession to India.

July to December

• 14 July - India refuses to send troops to Iraq.
• 25 August - 52 killed in two bomb blasts in Mumbai.
• 24 September - US President George W. Bush invites Vajpayee to lunch in New York during Vajpayee's US trip. It is considered an important meeting for Indo-US relations. Several deals are struck on civilian nuclear technology, space, hi-tech trade and missile defence.
• 6 October - Vajpayee visits Bali for the second time in 2 years.
• 22 October - India announces confidence-building measures with respect to Indo-Pakistani relations: more buses, flights, higher mission strength, etc.
• 15 November - Vajpayee visits Syria.

Deaths

• 8 January - Mahadeva Subramania Mani, entomologist (b.1908).
• 14 July - Leela Chitnis, actress (b.1909).
• 25 October - Pandurang Shastri Athavale, philosopher, spiritual leader, social reformer, who founded the Swadhyay Movement (b.1920).
• 3 November - Narendra Prasad, actor, playwright, teacher and literary critic (b.1946).
• 9 November - Binod Bihari Verma, writer (b.1937).
• December - G. V. Iyer, film director (b.1917).