‘Shimla agreement not dead’: distance from bold claim to Pakistan; Defense Minister’s foot-mouthed moment

A day after Pakistan Defense Minister Khwaja Asif declared the 1972 Shimla Agreement a “dead document”, the country’s Foreign Ministry clarified that no decision has been taken to cancel any bilateral agreements with India including Landmark Pact.A senior foreign office official responded to Asif’s comments, saying that recent developments have triggered internal discussions in Islamabad, there is no formal step to scrap the existing agreements with New Delhi.“Currently, there is no formal decision to abolish any bilateral agreement,” the news agency PTI quoted the officer. He indicated that all treaties, including the Shimla Agreement, are on.It is an explanation that tension increases after the recent Pahalgam terrorist attack and the Indian strike on the terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Pakistan later threatened to review the Simla agreement, but there was no official step for ASIF television.During a television interview on Tuesday, Defense Minister Asif said that India’s “unilateral action”, especially in Jammu and Kashmir, disrespect the Shimla Framework by 2019 of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.“Simla agreement is now a dead document. We are back in 1948, when the United Nations declared the Line of Control as a ceasefire line,” Asif claimed.He said, “Whether or not the Indus Water Treaty has been suspended, Shimla is already over,” he said.Asif also suggested that bilateral structure had collapsed and would need to address future controversies between India and Pakistan through multilateral or international mechanisms.However, the statement of the Foreign Office effectively removed the Pakistani government from the Defense Minister’s remarks.The Shimla Agreement signed in 1972 after the Indo-Pak war prepared major principles to guide peaceful bilateral relations and resolve disputes through dialogue.The enmity between India and Pakistan again erupted in early May, Pakistan tried to counter Indian military positions from 8 to 10 May. They met India with a strong response. On May 10, a ceasefire understanding finally reached after a conversation between the directors of the two countries between the military operations of the directors of the two countries.