India – Pakistan: Islamabad’s Response Brings Countries to the Brink of New War
Pakistan announced the suspension of the 1972 Simla Agreement, the only document that was the basis for peace in the region
Pakistan’s response to New Delhi’s counter measures following the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam (Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir), which killed 26 people and injured 17, was not long in coming: the Pakistani government announced the suspension of the 1972 Simla Agreement. The radical Islamist group Resistance Front (TRF) claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack. The attack is considered the worst attack on civilians in the region since 2000. Meanwhile, Islamabad’s political decision means abandoning the document that has long served as the legal basis for bilateral relations between Pakistan and India.
As noted by publications of both countries, the Simla Agreement was signed in the aftermath of the December 1971 Indo-Pakistani war that ended with the secession of East Pakistan and the formation of the state of Bangladesh, which was considered part of Pakistan from 1947 to 1971. In accordance with the provisions of the Simla Agreement, Pakistan formally recognized the independence of Bangladesh on February 22, 1974.
The Simla Agreement was signed on July 2, 1972, in the Indian city of Simla (Shimla), located in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The document was signed by the then two heads of state, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Pakistani President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. This agreement, reached with the “diplomatic support” of the United States and the Soviet Union, “was an important political achievement aimed both at normalizing bilateral relations between India (Moscow’s ally) and Pakistan (Washington’s ally) and, more generally, at stabilizing the geopolitical situation in the Indian subcontinent.”
The terrorist attack by radical Islamists and the immediate retaliation by New Delhi and Islamabad that followed – with Pakistan strongly denying involvement in the bloody attack in northwest India – came amid a sharp and extremely dangerous deterioration in bilateral relations. The suspension of the Simla Agreement may signal a radical shift in Islamabad’s course. According to analysts, Pakistan is seeking to reactivate the Kashmir dossier in the international arena, involving a range of countries, from the USA to China and Russia, as well as international bodies including the UN, BRICS, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Such a strategy by Pakistan carries a serious risk of military escalation in a region that has all the prerequisites to escalate into a full-scale war in the near future.
