Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has confirmed that the Simla Agreement, signed in 1972 between Islamabad and New Delhi to bilaterally resolve disputes regarding Kashmir, no longer remains in effect.

 

Speaking to a reporter on Thursday, the defence minister stated that the LOC should now be viewed as the Ceasefire Line again. “We have now returned to the 1948 position,” he added, referring to the UN-mediated cessation of hostilities in the first India-Pakistan war.

 

Asif explained that the Agreement was a bilateral accord between the two countries, with no involvement of the World Bank or any third party. 

 

The Simla Agreement was signed in 1972 between the two countries in the aftermath of the 1971 war by former Pakistani premier Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Indian ex-premier Indira Gandhi. 

 

The agreement, inter alia, stipulated that neither party would take any action unilaterally, that the disputes between the two countries would be resolved bilaterally, and that the ceasefire line would become the LoC.

 

The defence minister said that due to India’s escalatory action Simla Agreement has lost its significance.

 

Commenting on the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), which had been unilaterally suspended by New Delhi following the April 22 militant attacks in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOKJ) in Pahalgam, Asif made it clear that no party can unilaterally withdraw from the Treaty. 

 

“All actions related to the treaty must be mutual. India sometimes releases 6,000 cusecs of water, sometimes 25,000. India cannot arbitrarily control the flow of water,” he said.

 

It should be mentioned here that Pakistan has declared that any attempts to divert or block its share of water will be considered “an act of war.”