Islamabad: Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has announced that the Shimla Agreement between India and Pakistan is no longer in effect, stating that the Line of Control (LoC) has reverted to its original 1948 status as a Ceasefire Line.
In an interview with private broadcaster Geo News, Khawaja Asif said the recent hostilities between the two countries have rendered the Shimla Agreement defunct. “The agreement had provisions for bilateral resolution of issues, but in light of recent developments and war-like conditions, it holds no value anymore,” he asserted.
Asif emphasized that with the termination of the Shimla Agreement, the LoC will now be referred to as the Ceasefire Line, which was its original designation after the 1948 conflict. “The Shimla Agreement was a bilateral accord, involving no third party or the World Bank. With its end, the ceasefire line regains its original legal and political status,” he stated.
The Defence Minister also pointed out that India's unilateral actions, particularly in Kashmir, have contributed to the breakdown of the agreement. He said that the situation has reverted to the post-1948 scenario, where the ceasefire line defined the territorial boundaries in Jammu and Kashmir until the Shimla Agreement in 1972 renamed it as the Line of Control.
Addressing the Indus Waters Treaty, Asif clarified that no single party can unilaterally withdraw from it. “All actions under the Indus Waters Treaty must be mutual. India at times releases 6,000 or 25,000 cusecs of water arbitrarily, but it cannot block water flow at will,” he added.
The announcement follows a series of escalatory steps between the two countries after the April 22 attack in Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir. Following India’s announcement of suspending the Water Treaty, Pakistan responded by formally declaring the Shimla Agreement nullified.
Signed on July 2, 1972, by Pakistani President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the Shimla Agreement was a peace accord aimed at normalizing relations following the 1971 Indo-Pak war, which led to the creation of Bangladesh.
Key elements of the agreement included; peaceful resolution of disputes through bilateral negotiations without third-party intervention, including on the Kashmir issue, respect for each other's territorial integrity, sovereignty, and political independence, commitment not to unilaterally alter the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, India’s agreement to release 93,000 Pakistani prisoners of war captured during the 1971 conflict.
With Pakistan’s latest declaration, the future of bilateral diplomacy between the two nuclear-armed neighbors remains uncertain, potentially ushering in a new phase of regional instability.
