Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister of Pakistan, recently acknowledged that his nation had broken a 1999 peace accord with India. When Sharif took over as president of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) following a six-year disqualification by the nation’s Supreme Court, he revealed this information. He acknowledged that Pakistan had broken the provisions of the peace agreement known as the “Lahore Declaration,” which was signed on February 21, 1999, between him and the Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The agreement’s goal was to promote stability and peace between the two countries.
Pakistan and India made a number of significant agreements in the Lahore Declaration. In addition to promising not to meddle in one another’s domestic affairs, it contained promises to step up efforts to address all disputes, including the divisive Jammu and Kashmir problem, and to participate in comprehensive and integrated conversation processes. In addition, the pact restated its rejection of terrorism in all its forms and sought to lessen the possibility of unintentional or accidental use of nuclear weapons.
Pakistan’s following actions, however, ran counter to the spirit of the Lahore Declaration. The Kargil War began shortly after it was signed when Pakistani forces broke into the Jammu and Kashmir Kargil area. Pakistan flagrantly broke the terms of the peace agreement by sending soldiers and militants into area governed by India, which led to this conflict. In addition, Pakistan’s sustained encouragement of cross-border terrorism, which includes helping militants infiltrate Jammu and Kashmir, weakened attempts at a diplomatic settlement and increased hostilities between the two nations.
Terrorist organizations with bases in Pakistan planned multiple assaults on Indian territory, including the well-known attacks on the Indian Parliament in 2001 and the Mumbai attacks in 2008, despite pledges to fight terrorism and defend human rights. These episodes highlighted Pakistan’s breach of the Lahore Declaration and intensified hostilities between India and Pakistan.
