House of the Prime Minister of Pakistan in Islamabad

The Islamabad–New Delhi hotline is a system that allows direct communication between the leaders of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. The hotline, according to the media sources, was established in 1971, shortly after the end of the 1971 war. The hotline linked the Prime minister's Office in Islamabad via Directorate-General of Military Operations (DGMO) to Secretariat Building in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

. The hotline has seldom been used by the military leadership of

and

, even at the time of an escalation of tension. It is also called Hotline Linkage. In regard to the

Moscow–Washington hotline The Moscow–Washington hotline (formally known in the United States as the Washington–Moscow Direct Communications Link; ) is a system that allows direct communication between the leaders of the United States and the Russia, Russian Federation ...

model, the hotline serves the purpose, as both technological and strategic rationale, for establishing the link between two countries. The Islamabad–Delhi hotline is a secure communication link over which many procedural operations are obtained in different formats.

History

According to the Indian media sources, the hotline was established by the governments of

and

shortly after the end of the 1971 war. The foreign ministries of

and

signed the mutual agreement for the implementation of the hotline. The hotline was modelled directly on the

which was established in 1963. The hotline became operational in the 1970s after both countries' foreign ministries transmitted the messages. The first usage of the hotline was in 1991 between the militaries of India and Pakistan to work on confidence-building measures. The second usage of the hotline was in 1997, when both countries informed each other on trade issues. In 1998, when both countries had publicly conducted

nuclear test Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance of nuclear weapons and the effects of their explosion. Nuclear testing is a sensitive political issue. Governments have often performed tests to signal strength. Bec ...

s (

Pokhran-II Pokhran-II (''Operation Shakti'') was a series of five nuclear weapon tests conducted by India in May 1998. The bombs were detonated at the Indian Army's Pokhran Test Range in Rajasthan. It was the second instance of nuclear testing conducted ...

Chagai-I Chagai-I is the code name of five simultaneous underground nuclear tests conducted by Pakistan at 15:15 hrs Pakistan Standard Time, PKT on 28 May 1998. The tests were performed at Ras Koh Hills in the Chagai District of Balochistan Province. C ...

& Chagai-II), the hotline was extensively used between the leaders of both countries. Since 2005, the hotline has been used by each country to inform the other of their nuclear missile tests in the region.

Other hotlines

In 2011, Indian and Pakistani authorities agreed to create an anti-

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

hotline. A cyber warfare hotline was established. An agreement to establish a hotline to reduce the risk of

nuclear warfare Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a War, military conflict or prepared Policy, political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are Weapon of mass destruction, weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conven ...

was made on 20 June 2004 between Indian and Pakistani authorities. The hotline was aimed for providing warnings about incidents that could be misinterpreted as nuclear attacks. In association with the 10 May 2025 ceasefire of the 2025 India–Pakistan conflict, military hotlines were "activated".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Islamabad-New Delhi hotline Communication circuits India–Pakistan relations 1971 in politics History of the foreign relations of Pakistan History of Islamabad History of Delhi (1947–present) Military communications of India Hotlines between countries

History

Other hotlines

See also

References