Tashkent Agreement

Tashkent Agreement

The Tashkent Agreement was a peace agreement signed between India and Pakistan on 10 January, 1966 after the Indo- Pakistani war of 1965. The meeting was held in Tashkent in the Uzbek SSR, USSR (now Uzbekistan). The main aim of the meeting was to try and create a more permanent settlement between India and Pakistan. Premier Kosygin moderated the meeting between Indian Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Pakistani president Muhammad Ayub Khan. The declaration that was released stated that Indian and Pakistani forces would pull back to their pre-conflict positions, the nations would not interfere in each other’s internal affairs, economic and diplomatic relations would be restored and the two leaders would work towards building good relations between the two countries.

The agreement was severely criticised in Pakistan as well as in India. Pakistan thought it negated the perceived military victory with a defeat at the negotiating table. India did not receive it well because it did not contain a no war pact or any renunciation of guerrilla warfare in Kashmir.

The agreement was repudiated by Pakistan during the crisis between Indian and Pakistan in 1972.