Ever since the Simla Agreement, there only have been two bilateral summits at the Prime Ministerial level between
India
and
Pakistan
. The first was between Rajiv Gandhi and Benazir Bhutto in
Islamabad
in December 1988, when Rajiv visited
Pakistan
. The second summit took place a decade later, between Nawaz Sharif and Atal Behari Vajpayee in
Lahore
in February 1999.
However, there have been a number of meetings between the Prime Minister/President of
Pakistan
and the Prime Minister of India, which took place at various multi-lateral forums, both at the regional and global levels. Most of these meetings were unproductive with both the leaders reiterating the same positions taken by their respective governments; some of these meetings were very productive.
A short history of the various meetings between the leaders of
India
and
Pakistan
during the post-Simla period is as follows:
Zia-Desai Meeting,
Nairobi
, 31 August 1978
The Pakistani President Zia-ul-Haq and Indian Prime Minister Morarji Desai met in
Nairobi
, when both were attending the funeral of President Jomo Kenyatta. Though it was expected that the Zia-Desai meeting would lead to a normalization of relations between the two countries, there were no significant change in the relations.
Zia-Indira Gandhi Meeting,
New Delhi
, 01 November 1982
Zia met Indira Gandhi in
New Delhi
when he was returning back from his trip to
South East Asia
. Both leaders met each other at a crucial time. The Afghan war was at its peak and both the superpowers were involved. Besides, the meeting took place in the aftermath of both countries submitting their own proposals for normalizing their relations.
Pakistan
, with the conflict in
Afghanistan
intensifying, came out with a suggestion in April 1981, emphasizing “Mutual guarantees of non-aggression and non-use of force, in the spirit of the Simla Agreement.” These non-aggression proposals were formally presented to the Indian Government during in 1981. After incorporating some suggestions from the Indian side (
India
proposed a “seven point aide-memoire, detailing additional elements)
Pakistan
made the revised proposal on non-aggression in June 1982.
India
, at this juncture proposed a “Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation” in August 1982, instead of a non-aggression pact between the two countries. Zia and Indira Gandhi, met each other against this backdrop.
Outcome of the Meeting: The meeting resulted in both leaders taking two decisions. First, to form a Joint Commission to discuss bilateral issues and the second to continue the discussions on the two peace proposals.
Follow Up: The Foreign Secretaries of both countries met on 22-24 December 1982, to discuss these two issues. However, no agreements were reached due to the following reasons. Firstly,
Pakistan
was not willing to extend the provisions of these proposals to
Jammu and Kashmir
. Secondly, there were differences of opinion between the two on what constitute “territorial integrity” of
India
. Thirdly,
Pakistan
disagreed with
India
on the question of foreign military bases in its soil.
Zia-Indira Gandhi Meeting,
New Delhi
, 10 March 1983
Zia met Indira Gandhi, when he came to attend the NAM Conference.
Outcome of the Meeting: A Joint Commission was established, to discuss the various issues between
India
and
Pakistan
.
Follow Up: The first meeting of the Joint Commission took place in
Pakistan
on 04 June 1983, which was co-chaired by Narasimha Rao, the then External Affairs Minister of
India
. The proposals made by
India
and
Pakistan
were discussed in the meeting. It was decided to form Sub-Commissions under the Joint Commission on Economic Relations, Information, Education, Travel, and Tourism.
Meetings between Rajiv Gandhi and Zia-ul-Haq
Zia and Rajiv Gandhi met each other at various locations on various occasions. The first was in
New Delhi
during the funeral of Indira Gandhi on 01 November 1981. Besides they met each other on 13 March 1985 during the funeral of Konstantin Chernenko (luckily there were no major discussions during these meetings, otherwise this would have been termed “Funeral Diplomacy”); New York in October 1985, when both were attending the 40th session of the UN General Assembly; Dhaka on 07 December 1985, when thry were attending the First SAARC summit; and New Delhi on 17 December 1985, when Zia was returning back to Pakistan after his visit to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
There were no major decisions reached, nor were there any significant follow ups of these meetings.
Rajiv Gandhi-Benazir Bhutto Meeting,
Islamabad
, December 1988
The first meeting between the two leaders took place in December 1988, when Rajiv Gandhi went to
Islamabad
to attend the SAARC summit.
Outcome of the Meeting: The summit resulted in three bilateral agreements.
a. Prohibition of attack on each other’s nuclear installations and facilities
b. Cultural Co-operation; and
c. Avoidance of double taxation on incomes derived from international civil aviation transactions.
Rajiv Gandhi-Benazir Bhutto, The First Bilateral
Summit
since the Simla Agreement, 16-17, July 1989
The 1989 July summit was the first ever summit between the leaders of
Pakistan
and
India
, after the Simla agreement. However, this summit did not result in any major breakthrough. Rajiv Gandhi was facing serious problems internally in the aftermath of the Bofors scandal and Benazir Bhutto was under pressure from the Pakistani Army and the hardliners.
Outcome of the Meeting: In the Joint communiqué both the leaders expressed their desire to work toward a comprehensive settlement to reduce the chances of conflict and avoidance of the use of force.
Chandrashekar-Nawaz Sharif Meeting, Male, 21-23 November 1990
Chandrashekar and Nawaz Sharif met during the SAARC summit in Male, in which it was decided to set up an additional hotline between the two leaders.
Outcome of the Meeting: Nawaz Sharif later on 29 November 1990, used the hotline, and it was decided to resume the Foreign Secretary level talks between the two countries.
Follow Up: The third level of Foreign Secretary level talks took place on 18-20 December 1990, as a result of the discussions between the two leaders. It was agreed to evolve a “bilateral code of conduct on treatment of diplomats.”
Narasimha Rao-Nawaz Sharif Meetings
Nawaz Sharif and Narasimha Rao met each other in
Harare
on 17 October 1991; during November 1991 at a SAARC summit; in
Rio de Janeiro
on 14 June 1992; and the
NAM
summit in
Jakarta
on 03 September 1992. However, these meetings did not result in any major breakthrough, the main reason being the increase of insurgency and terrorist activities in
Kashmir
and
Pakistan
’s role in its support.
Gujral-Nawaz Sharif Meeting, Male, 12 May 1997
A Gujral-Sharif meeting occurred during the SAARC summit in Male, which was the most significant meeting between the leaders of the two countries after the 1988 meeting between Rajiv Gandhi and Benazir Bhutto.
Outcome of the meeting: Both leaders decided to reactivate the hotline. They also decided to constitute working groups on various issues between
India
and
Pakistan
. Thirdly and most importantly, Nawaz Sharif agreed for an “intergrated approach”, instead of focusing merely on
Kashmir
.
Follow Up: Two rounds of talks at the Foreign Secretary level were held, which resulted in the formation of Joint Working Groups to discuss issues like Kashmir, Peace and Security, Siachen, Wullar Barrage, Sir Creek, Terrorism and Drug Trafficking, Economic Cooperation, and Promotion of friendly exchanges. However, this momentum was lost during the talks held in Septemebr 1997, when
Pakistan
insisted on making
Kashmir
the “core issue.”
Gujral-Nawaz Sharif Meetings, September 1997, October 1997 and January 1998
Both leaders met again at various multi lateral meetings in
New York
,
Edinburgh
and at
Dhaka
. There were no significant developments during these meetings.
Atal Behari Vajpayee – Nawaz Sharif
Summit
, February 1999
The
Lahore
summit was the second bilateral meeting after Simla agreement.
Outcome of the Meeting – Lahore Declaration: It was decided at the end of the meeting that “an environment of peace and security is in the supreme national interest of both sides and that the resolution of all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir is essential for the purpose.” Both sides also decided to “intensify their efforts to resolve all issues, including the issue of
Jammu and Kashmir
.” Besides, both governments agreed to “refrain from intervention and interference in each other’s internal affairs”; to “intensify their composite and integrated dialogue process for an early and positive outcome of the bilateral agenda”; to “take immediate steps for reducing the risk of accidental or unauthorized use of nuclear weapons”; and to condemn terrorism “in all its forms and manifestations.”
Follow Up: The
Lahore
declaration and the subsequent MoU signed by the Foreign Secretaries of India and
Pakistan
did not make any progress due to the Kargil war initiated by
Pakistan
.
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