Simla Agreement suspended: Pakistan’s Simla pact pullout hints at sharp break from peace-based path in India relations

Pakistan on Thursday suspended the 1972 Simla Agreement, blocked its airspace for Indian airlines, shut the Wagah border, halted all trade with India, and warned that any Indian move to divert water from the Indus Water Treaty would be treated as an 'act of war'.

This announcement came a day after India downgraded diplomatic ties with Pakistan, expelled Pakistani military attaches, suspended the more-than-60-year-old Indus Water Treaty, and closed the Attari land-transit post. These steps followed the Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 civilians. The Indian Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, finalised retaliatory actions on Wednesday, instructed security forces to remain on high alert, and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Also Read: India suspends Indus Waters Treaty, seals Wagah-Attari border, cancels visas for Pakistanis


Pakistan’s countermeasures were made public after a meeting led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to determine a response to India’s moves. In a statement, the Pakistan Prime Minister’s Office said: “Pakistan shall exercise the right to hold all bilateral agreements with India, including but not limited to Simla Agreement in abeyance, till India desists from its manifested behaviour of fomenting terrorism inside Pakistan; trans-national killings, and non-adherence to international law and UN Resolutions on Kashmir.”

Among Pakistan’s list of retaliatory actions, the suspension of the 1972 Simla Agreement stands out. Pakistan said it was putting the agreement, as well as other bilateral accords, on hold. The decision appeared to be a direct reply to India’s suspension of the Indus Water Treaty.

The Simla Agreement, signed in July 1972 by then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Pakistani President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto following Pakistan’s defeat in the Bangladesh war, aimed to create a framework for stable and peaceful relations between the two nations.

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Crucially, the agreement committed both sides to bilateralism and peaceful resolution of disputes, while setting aside UN resolutions on Kashmir and recognising the sanctity of the Line of Control (LoC).

Supporters of the agreement argue that it helped reduce the frequency of armed conflict as India and Pakistan have fought only one limited war in Kargil since 1972, compared to three wars before it. However, India has long held that Pakistan has not honoured the agreement. Since the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in 2019, India has accused Pakistan of internationalising the Kashmir issue and fuelling cross-border terrorism.

Also Read: Yet another Pak attempt to globalise Kashmir issue timed with foreign visits

The agreement also prohibited both sides from interfering in each other’s internal matters. For India, keeping the Kashmir issue strictly bilateral, and outside the realm of international mediation, has been a constant foreign policy goal. In line with this, in 2015, the Modi government renamed a planned dialogue as the “comprehensive bilateral dialogue” instead of “comprehensive dialogue” to signal its opposition to third-party intervention.

Former diplomat Syed Akbaruddin told the Times of India that Pakistan’s announcement means “the agreement to address bilateral differences peacefully is no longer being considered by Pakistan as a binding commitment.” He added that this calls into question the validity of the LoC agreement, which could release both countries from the clause that bars unilateral changes to the LoC regardless of disagreements or legal readings.

"It opens up the validity of the LoC which both sides have abided by since 1971. As a corollary, it may free each side of the commitment not to unilaterally alter the LoC irrespective of differences and legal interpretations," Akbaruddin told ToI.

The Simla Agreement had made clear that the LoC created after the December 1971 ceasefire was to be respected by both sides “without prejudice” to each other’s official positions. It also said: “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.”

Also Read: Pakistan suspends Simla Agreement: Here are several instances when it violated the truce deal

Analysts say that if Pakistan moves away from bilateralism, it could indirectly bolster calls within India to resolve the Kashmir issue through military means. If Pakistan no longer adheres to peaceful bilateral resolution, Indian policymakers may feel less bound by previous restraints.

Former Indian high commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria, in his book Anger Management, wrote that although the Simla negotiations initially raised hopes for a settlement of the Kashmir dispute, Bhutto quickly changed course. He said that by 1973, as Prime Minister under a new Pakistani Constitution, Bhutto was speaking of waging a “1000-year war” with India. “By mid-1974, neither Bhutto nor Indira Gandhi had the political will or capital to forge a lasting settlement,” Bisaria wrote.