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Simla Agreement not 'dead document'? Pak fact-checks its defence minister
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry Office had to fact-check the country's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif after he stirred headlines by calling the 1972 Simla Agreement with India a 'dead document.' read more
Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif gestures on the day of an interview with Reuters in Islamabad, Pakistan April 28, 2025. File Image/Reuters
Pakistan had to fact-check yet another goof made by the country's Defence Minister, Khawaja Asif , about the future of the 1972 Simla Agreement and other bilateral agreements with India. On Thursday, the Pakistani foreign ministry stated that no formal decision has been made to scrap any agreements with India, including the Simla Agreement.
The statement came a day after Pakistan's Defence Minister, Khawaja Asif, declared the Simla Agreement to be irrelevant, calling it a 'dead document' due to India's recent action, calling out the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. 'The Simla Agreement is now a dead document. We are back to the 1948 position,' Asif said, referencing the Line of Control (LoC) as a ceasefire line established after the first India-Pakistan war.
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While speaking to The Express Tribune, a senior official from the Pakistani foreign office noted that while India's decision to put the Indus Waters Treaty to abeyance prompted internal discussion, there have been no formal announcements that the bilateral treaties between the two nations have been annulled.
'At present, there is no formal decision to terminate any bilateral accord,' the official told the Pakistani news outlet, insisting that the existing bilateral agreements, including the Simla Agreement, remain in effect.'
Asif's goof
While speaking on the ongoing India-Pakistan tensions, Asif commented on the future of bilateral agreements between the two nations. 'Whether the Indus Waters Treaty is suspended or not, Simla is already over,' Asif remarked, reflecting Pakistan's frustration with India's decision to put the Indus Waters Treaty on hold.
The remarks by Asif raised many questions about the validity of the 1972 agreement. The agreement between the Government of India and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on Bilateral Relations, also known as the Simla Agreement, was signed in July 1972 between then-Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Pakistani counterpart Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
The agreement was signed following Pakistan's comprehensive defeat in the 1971 war, which eventually led to the independence of Bangladesh. The agreement was expected to lay the foundation of a peaceful and stable relationship between the two nations.
The deal emphasises resolving issues between the two in a bilateral manner, superseding the UN's resolution on Kashmir. The fact that there has been only a limited war since the agreement was signed reflects its effectiveness. The agreement stressed that nations go back to the Line of Control (LoC) and respect the region. Tensions between India and Pakistan have been all-time high since the Pahalgam terror attack rocked a tourist destination in Jammu and Kashmir, killing 26 people. The main perpetrators of the attack remain at large.
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