No decision has yet been made to scrape bilateral agreements with India, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday – a day after Defense Minister Khawaja claimed Asif that the Simla Agreement in 1972 between the two hostile neighbors was a “dead” document.
In response to media queries, a senior official in the Foreign Office said that although India’s recent actions and statements requested internal discussions, Pakistan had made no formal or crucial step to cancel any of his bilateral agreements with New Delhi.
“At present, there is no formal decision to terminate any bilateral agreement,” the official said, indicating that the existing bilateral agreements, including the Simla agreement, remain in force.
Read more: Asif declares Simla -Agreement a ‘Dead Document’
The clarification came a day after Defense Minister Khawaja Asif during an interview with a private TV channel said the Simla agreement had lost its relevance and validity due to India’s recent unilateral actions.
“The Simla Agreement is now a dead document. We are back to the position of 1948 when the United Nations declared the control line a ceasefire after the ceasefire and the decisions,” Asif said. He argued that the bilateral framework agreed in 1972 had collapsed and future disputes should be treated through multilateral or international channels.
With reference to the first Indo-Pak War and the resulting non-mediated ceasefire, the Minister claimed that India’s step-Isares the revocation of Article 370 of Jammu and Kashmir in the 2019-had undermined the basis of bilateral engagement.
He also questioned the current status of other key agreements and said, “Whether the Indus Waters Treaty is suspended or not, Simla is already over.”
In a pointed warning, the defense minister commented on the broader security situation and said the threat of conflict with India was still there. “Pakistan does not want war, but if it is imposed on us, our response will be even stronger than before,” he warned.
Read more: SIMLA AGREEMENT 1972: Key points and exit implications
The Simla Agreement, signed in 1972 in the wake of the Indo-Pak War in 1971, obliged both countries to resolve their disputes on peaceful and bilateral funds. Accord converted the ceasefire line in Jammu and Kashmir to the control line (LOC) and obliged both sides to refrain from the threat or use of power while respecting each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Khawaja Asif’s comments came on the basis of New Delhi’s recent announcement of unilateral to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), followed by unprovoked strikes in Pakistani territory last month developments that triggered increased military tensions between the two nuclear-warmed neighbors.
In the wake of India’s relocation, Pakistani authorities reported a sharp decline of 91,000 CUSCS in water flows from India into the Chenab River when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi continued to emit Hawkish statements, suggesting the use of water as a strategic weapon against Pakistan.
Days after announcing the suspension of the Treaty, Prime Minister Modi declared that water that previously flowed to Pakistan would now be preserved to household, claiming that Pakistan would no longer receive water from rivers that India claims rights.
