October 12, 1999. Pakistan army chief General Pervez Musharraf ousts Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup, and declares himself chief executive of his country.
Amidst international condemnation, Pakistan is suspended from the Commonwealth. Indian officials who accuse Musharraf of being the mastermind of the Kargil crisis say the resumption of the peace talks following then prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's bus trip to Lahore is jeopardised.
Musharraf vows revolutionary steps to revive the Pakistan economy, restore investors' confidence and recover plundered wealth in his first speech to the nation, October 17, 1999.
Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
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