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| 1996, Nov. 5 |
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| Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was ousted on charges of corruption. New elections were scheduled for February. | 1 |
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| 1998, May 28–30 |
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| Pakistan carried out nuclear tests in response to India's testing from earlier that month. Economic sanctions were imposed on Pakistan and India by the United States; international concern heightened over the nuclear capability of both nations, particularly in light of their ongoing dispute over the Jammu-Kashmir territory in northern India. | 2 |
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| 1999, April 15 |
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| Although in exile, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was convicted of political corruption for receiving extorted funds and was sentenced to five years in prison. | 3 |
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| May 26–June 10 |
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| India sent troops and air strikes into Kashmir to battle radical Muslim insurgents. Pakistani troops apparently aided the Muslim rebels in the territory with a predominately Muslim population. Pakistan's military shot down two Indian jet fighters that had allegedly flown over Pakistani-controlled territory in Kashmir. Conflict continued to heighten. | 4 |
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| July 4 |
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| U.S. president Clinton met with Nawaz Sharif to discuss international peace and safety with regard to Pakistan's and India's recent successes with nuclear weapons. Pakistan's forces withdrew from the disputed Kashmir territory soon after the talks had ended. | 5 |
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| Oct. 12 |
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| Pakistan's government was taken over by a bloodless coup as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attempted to fire his army chief of staff, Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Musharraf took control through martial law and suspended the powers of the Pakistani constitution. This coup marked the first time in world history that a military regime had taken over an affirmed nuclear power, but the pattern of a military takeover in reaction to perceived corruption by a civil government was long-standing in Pakistan. | 6 |
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