The Tashkent Declaration was signed between

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), 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 and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

on 10 January 1966 to resolve the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 or the Second Kashmir War was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between Pakistan and India. The conflict began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was d ...

. Peace was achieved on 23 September through interventions by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, both of which pushed the two warring countries towards a ceasefire in an attempt to avoid any escalation that could draw in other powers.

Background

The meeting was hosted by the

in the city of

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

, from 4 to 10 January 1966 in an attempt to create a more permanent settlement between the warring sides. The Soviets, represented by Soviet politician Aleksey Kosygin, moderated between Indian prime minister

Lal Bahadur Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri (; 2 October 1904 – 11 January 1966) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of India from 1964 to 1966 and 6th Home Minister of India from 1961 to 1963. He promoted the White Re ...

and Pakistani president

Muhammad Ayub Khan Muhammad Ayub Khan ( Urdu: ; 14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974), was the second President of Pakistan. He was an army general who seized the presidency from Iskander Mirza in a coup in 1958, the first successful coup d'état in the country' ...

Declaration

A declaration was released that was hoped to be a framework for lasting peace by stating that the Indian military and the Pakistani military would pull back to their pre-conflict positions, their pre-August lines, no later than 25 February 1966; neither nation would interfere in each other's internal affairs; economic and diplomatic relations would be restored; there would be an orderly transfer of prisoners of war, and both leaders would work towards improving bilateral relations.

Aftermath

The treaty was heavily criticized in both countries, as Indians and Pakistanis were expecting more concessions to their respective sides than what had been agreed upon. In accordance with the Tashkent Declaration, talks were held at the ministerial level on 1 and 2 March 1966. Despite the fact that these talks were unproductive, the diplomatic exchange continued throughout the spring and summer, though stark differences of opinion on the Kashmir conflict culminated in the lack of a resolution from bilateral discussions. In

, the agreement was criticized because it did not contain a no-war pact or any renunciation of guerrilla warfare across

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

. After the Tashkent Declaration was signed, Indian prime minister

died under mysterious circumstances in Tashkent; his sudden death led to the rise of conspiracy theories claiming that he was poisoned. In 1993, journalist Gregory Douglas conducted a series of interviews with American intelligence officer Robert Crowley. According to Douglas, Crowley claimed that the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

assassinated Shastri as well as Indian nuclear scientist Homi J. Bhabha (who died on Air India Flight 101) in order to thwart the development of India's nuclear weapons programme. The Indian government has refused to declassify a report on his death under the claim that it would harm India's foreign relations, cause disruption in the country, and breach parliamentary privileges. In

, the agreement caused widespread distress; social upset was exacerbated after Pakistani president

went into seclusion in the ceasefire's aftermath, as demonstrations and riots erupted across the country. However, Khan later addressed the nation on 14 January 1966 and explained the rationale behind the agreement. Although he was eventually able to quell the unrest, the Tashkent Declaration greatly damaged Khan's image, and was one of the factors that ultimately led to his downfall in 1969.The falling out at Tashkent (1966) between Ayub Khan and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto
The Friday Times (newspaper), Updated 4 November 2016, Retrieved 24 July 2020

References

External links

Full text of Tashkent Declaration
UN Peacemaker
All peace agreement for India
UN Peacemaker
All peace agreements for Pakistan
UN Peacemaker {{Authority control History of the Republic of India Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Foreign relations of the Soviet Union Pakistan–Soviet Union relations India–Soviet Union relations 1966 in the Soviet Union Diplomatic conferences in the Soviet Union Peace treaties of Pakistan Declaration 1966 in India Peace treaties of India Treaties concluded in 1966 1966 in Pakistan Treaties of India Shastri administration India–Pakistan treaties India–Pakistan military relations

Background

Declaration

Aftermath

See also

References

External links