Tashkent Agreement

Also called: Tashkent Declaration · Topic: India's External Relations, 1947-1999: Non-alignment, Wars and Nuclear Policy · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "India's External Relations"; Class 12, Ch 5 "Challenges to and Restoration of the Congress System"

Meaning

The Tashkent Agreement (also called the Tashkent Declaration) is the peace agreement that formally ended the India–Pakistan war of 1965. It was signed in Tashkent, in Soviet Uzbekistan, on 10 January 1966 by Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and Pakistan's President Mohammad Ayub Khan, with the Soviet Union acting as mediator [2][5].

It matters for three reasons:

• It sent both armies back to the positions they held before the war.
• It made the USSR the trusted peacemaker in South Asia.
• At home, many felt India had won the war but lost at the negotiating table. Shastri died in Tashkent the next day.

Explanation

Background: the 1965 war in three phases

• Why Pakistan attacked: India had lost the 1962 war with China. Pakistan thought India was weak and expected an easy gain in Kashmir.
• Phase I: Rann of Kutch (January to June 1965)
• In April 1965, Pakistan attacked in the Rann of Kutch, a disputed salt marsh on the Gujarat–Sindh border [5].

• A ceasefire agreement of 30 June 1965 brought both sides back to the status quo (the position before the fighting) [7].

• Phase II: Jammu and Kashmir (August to September 1965)

• In Operation Gibraltar (early August 1965), between 7,000 and 30,000 Pakistani troops and irregulars (fighters not in uniform) crossed the 1949 ceasefire line [5].
• Pakistan expected the people of Kashmir to rise in revolt. They did not, and the plan failed [5].

• Pakistani tanks then moved towards Akhnoor. The aim was to cut Jammu off from the Kashmir valley.

• Phase III: India's counter-attack in Punjab (September 1965)

• Shastri ordered an attack across the international border in Punjab. This forced Pakistan to defend its own heartland.
• Indian troops reached the outskirts of Lahore and took the Haji Pir pass in Kashmir.

From ceasefire to peace agreement: the steps in order

1. UNSC Resolution 211 (20 September 1965) - It was passed 10–0, with Jordan abstaining [3]. - It demanded a ceasefire from 0700 hours GMT on 22 September 1965 [3]. - It also demanded that all armed personnel go back to their pre-5 August 1965 positions [3].

2. Ceasefire: in practice the guns fell silent on 23 September 1965. Britannica dates the end of the war to 22 September [5].

3. Watching the ceasefire: - UNMOGIP watched the line inside J&K. - UNIPOM watched the border outside J&K [4].

4. Mediation at Tashkent: Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin brought the two leaders together. A mediator is a third party who helps two sides reach an agreement. Unlike an arbitrator, a mediator does not give a binding decision.

5. Signing: 10 January 1966 [2].
6. Withdrawal deadline: forces had to pull back by 25 February 1966 [2].
7. UN record: - India sent the text to the UN Security Council with a letter dated 24 March 1966 [8]. - The agreement was registered in the UN Treaty Series, Volume 560, No. 8166 [9].

Main terms of the Declaration [2]

• Peace: both sides would build good-neighbourly relations under the UN Charter. They would not use force, and they would settle disputes peacefully. The text speaks of the welfare of the "600 million people" of the two countries.
• Kashmir: the two sides discussed it, but each only "set forth its respective position". Nothing was settled.
• Withdrawal: all armed personnel would go back to their pre-5 August 1965 positions by 25 February 1966. Both sides would respect the ceasefire line.
• Non-interference: neither country would interfere in the other's internal affairs.
• Propaganda: both would discourage hostile propaganda and encourage friendly messages.
• Diplomacy: the High Commissioners would return to their posts, and both sides would follow the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961.
• Trade and contacts: both would work to restore trade, communications and cultural exchanges.
• People:
• Prisoners of war would be sent home.
• Talks on refugees and evictions would continue.
• Both would discuss returning seized property.

Limits of the agreement

• No Kashmir solution: the agreement only restored the old position. The core dispute stayed open.
• India gave back territory it had won: this included strategic posts such as Haji Pir, so the battlefield gains were lost.
• It depended on goodwill: the Declaration had no enforcement body of its own. It relied on the two sides keeping their word.

In the Constitution and practice

• Constitutional basis: Article 51 is a Directive Principle (a guideline the state should follow when governing, which courts cannot enforce). It asks the state to:
• promote international peace and security;
• encourage the settlement of international disputes by arbitration.

• The Rann of Kutch tribunal and the Tashkent talks are examples of Article 51 in practice.

• Who acted: the Prime Minister (Shastri) signed for India. Pakistan's head of state, President Ayub Khan, a military ruler, signed for Pakistan [5].

• Outcome:
• The armies withdrew to their pre-5 August 1965 lines [2].
• Diplomatic ties were restored [2].

• Kashmir stayed unresolved.

• Shastri's death: Shastri died in Tashkent on 11 January 1966, the day after signing. Indira Gandhi then became Prime Minister.

• Lasting effects:
• Tilt towards the USSR
  • The USSR had been trusted by both sides, which let it broker Tashkent.
  • The US arms embargo on both countries pushed India towards Soviet arms.
  • This prepared the ground for the 1971 Indo-Soviet Treaty.
• Defence self-reliance: a Department of Defence Supplies was set up in November 1965, and defence spending rose.
• Planning disrupted
  • The war and the droughts of 1965-66 and 1966-67 derailed the Third Plan (1961-66).
  • Three Annual Plans (1966-69), known as the "Plan Holiday", followed.
  • The Fourth Plan began only in 1969.
• Food security
  • Shastri's slogan "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan" linked the soldier and the farmer.
  • India's dependence on US food aid (PL-480) pushed it towards self-sufficiency and later the Green Revolution.
• Distrust of outsiders: the experience of 1965-66 made India wary of third parties in Kashmir. After 1971, India insisted on bilateralism (settling matters only between the two countries), as seen at Shimla in 1972.

Don't confuse with

• Shimla Agreement (1972): came after the 1971 war and was signed without any outside mediator. Tashkent (1966) came after the 1965 war and was mediated by the USSR.
• Rann of Kutch tribunal award (1968): this was arbitration. A neutral tribunal gave a decision, awarding about 90% of the disputed area to India and about 10% to Pakistan [5][6]. Tashkent was mediation: the USSR helped the two sides agree but did not decide anything.
• UNSC Resolution 211 (20 September 1965): a UN demand for a ceasefire [3]. Tashkent was the later peace agreement that ended the war. Both used the same reference date: forces were to return to their positions before 5 August 1965.
• 1971 Indo-Soviet Treaty: a friendship treaty between India and the USSR. Tashkent was an India–Pakistan declaration in which the USSR was only the mediator.

Prelims Hooks

• Who signed: Tashkent (10 January 1966) was signed by Shastri and President Ayub Khan, not a Pakistani Prime Minister. The mediator was Soviet Premier Kosygin, not Brezhnev [2][5].
• Withdrawal terms: forces returned to positions held before 5 August 1965, with a deadline of 25 February 1966 [2].
• Diplomatic rules: the Declaration commits both sides to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961 [2].
• Shastri's death: Shastri died in Tashkent on 11 January 1966, and Indira Gandhi succeeded him.
• Resolution 211: UNSC Resolution 211 (20 September 1965) demanded a ceasefire from 0700 GMT on 22 September 1965. Jordan abstained [3].
• Common trap: UNIPOM watched the border outside J&K. UNMOGIP (present since 1949) watched the line inside J&K [4].

Mains Points

• Winning the war vs winning the peace: India reached the outskirts of Lahore but at Tashkent returned Haji Pir and got no Kashmir settlement.
• Critics say India traded its military gains for Soviet goodwill.

• Supporters say a weak economy, drought and big-power pressure left India little choice.

• Security and development are linked:

• The war, together with drought, wrecked the Third Plan and forced the Plan Holiday (1966-69).
• It started defence self-reliance (Department of Defence Supplies, 1965) and the push for food security ("Jai Jawan Jai Kisan").

• This is a good example of domestic needs meeting the international climate (NCERT Exercise 4).

• How India settles disputes, and how non-alignment changed:

• India's methods shifted over time: arbitration at Kutch (1968), mediation at Tashkent (1966), then bilateralism at Shimla (1972).
• The US embargo and the Soviet role as mediator moved India towards Moscow. This showed that non-alignment had to bend to security needs, which led to the 1971 treaty.

Related concepts

• Indo-Pakistan War of 1965

Read more

• Pakistan II: the 1965 war and the Tashkent Agreement