Pahalgam Terror Attack: Know Everything About Simla Agreement That Pakistan Suspended With India

Pahalgam Terror Attack: Retaliating to India's decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, Pakistan's government has made a bold announcement. Pakistan's Prime Minister's Office has shut down the 1972 SIMLA Agreement while closing airspaces for both owned and operated airlines by India. The Simla Agreement was a decades-old peace treaty between India and Pakistan after the 1971 war.

The treaty was basically signed to put an end to the conflict and confrontation that marred the relations between India and Pakistan.

Freedom from the British led to the separation of one of the most widespread lands and peoples, which are now called India and Pakistan. However, the early years of independence were filled with war and conflicts, with Jammu and Kashmir being an epicenter of the tension.

The tensions escalated in 1971, when India intervened in East Pakistan as an ally of Mukti Bahini, who were fighting against Pakistani state forces in the Bangladesh Liberation War. It was called the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

The war led to the formation of an independent state called Bangladesh as India's intervention proved decisive in the war and led to East Pakistan's breakaway from its union with West Pakistan.

But the intervention was yet another bitter feud between the two countries, as their conflicts heightened. Hence, came into the picture Simla Agreement of 1972.

The treaty's official purpose was stated to serve as a way for both countries to "put an end to the conflict and confrontation that have hitherto marred their relations" and to conceive the steps to be taken for further normalization of India-Pakistan relations while also laying down the principles that should govern their future interactions, as per Wikipedia.

Furthermore, the treaty gave back more than 13,000 km2 of land that the Indian Army had seized in Pakistan during the war. However, India retained a few strategic areas, including Turtuk, Dhothang, Tyakshi (earlier called Tiaqsi) and Chalunka of Chorbat Valley, which was more than 883 km2.

Some of the major decisions made in the Simla Agreement, as per the main text, are:

- The two countries are resolved to settle their differences by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations or by any other peaceful means mutually agreed upon between them. Pending the final settlement of any of the problems between the two countries, neither side shall unilaterally alter the situation and both shall prevent the organization, assistance or encouragement of any acts detrimental to the maintenance of peace and harmonious relations.

- The prerequisite for reconciliation, good neighbourliness and durable peace between them is a commitment by both countries to peaceful coexistence respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty and noninterference in each other's internal affairs, based on equality and mutual benefit. That the basic issues and causes of conflict which have bedevilled the relations between the two countries for the last 25 years shall be resolved by peaceful means.

- The two countries shall always respect each others national unity, territorial integrity, political independence and sovereign equality.

- In accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, they will refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of each other.

- Both governments will take all steps within their power to prevent hostile propaganda directed against each other. Both countries will encourage the dissemination of such information as would promote the development of friendly relations between them.

Also, the treaty led to a major shift in the Kashmiri border, which was the major disputed matter between the two. In Jammu and Kashmir, the treaty directed that the line of control resulting from the ceasefire of 17 December 1971 shall be respected by both sides without prejudice to the recognized position of either side. Neither side shall seek to alter it unilaterally, irrespective of mutual differences and legal interpretations. Both sides further undertake to refrain from the threat or the use of force in violation of this line.

The agreement converted the cease-fire line of 17 December 1971 into the Line of Control (LOC) between India and Pakistan and it was agreed that "neither side shall seek to alter it unilaterally, irrespective of mutual differences and legal interpretations".

However, the treaty could not prevent the two countries from entering into yet another war in 1999. The war of Kargil is the most recent major war between the two countries.