Pakistan II: the 1965 war and the Tashkent Agreement

Detail

1. Background and leaders

• Indo-Pakistan War of 1965: the second war between India and Pakistan over territory, mainly Kashmir. The first was in 1947-48.
• Lal Bahadur Shastri was India's Prime Minister. He took office after Nehru died in 1964.
• Mohammad Ayub Khan was Pakistan's President, and a military ruler [5].
• India had lost the 1962 war with China. Pakistan saw India as weak and expected an easy gain.

2. Phase I: Rann of Kutch (January to June 1965)

• Rann of Kutch: a salt marsh on the Gujarat–Sindh border. The boundary line there was disputed.
• In April 1965, Pakistan attacked in the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat. Skirmishes went on from January to June 1965, as Pakistani troops tested India's defences [5].
• Ceasefire agreement of 30 June 1965: both sides agreed to stop firing and go back to the earlier position (the status quo) [7].
• The dispute went to an international tribunal:
• The UN Secretary-General sent a report to the Security Council, and the dispute was handed to an international tribunal [5][6].
• 1968 award: about 90% of the disputed area went to India and about 10% to Pakistan [5][6].

• The new line was marked on the ground in 1969 [5].

• The case shows that arbitration (a neutral panel whose decision both sides accept) can settle a border dispute peacefully.

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

• In August–September 1965, Pakistan launched a much bigger offensive in J&K.
• Operation Gibraltar (early August 1965):
• Pakistani troops crossed the 1949 ceasefire line into Kashmir. Estimates of their number range from 7,000 to 30,000 [5].

• Some were trained "irregulars" (fighters who were not in uniform), guided by the Pakistani army. Their job was to commit sabotage and arson and to start a local revolt [5].

• Pakistan expected local support, but the people of Kashmir did not rise. The operation failed, but it turned the conflict into a wider war [5].

• Pakistan then sent tanks towards Akhnoor, aiming to cut Jammu off from the Kashmir valley.
• 5 August 1965 became the reference date. Both the UN and Tashkent later asked forces to go back to the positions they held before this day [2][3].

4. Phase III: India's counter-offensive in Punjab (September 1965)

• Shastri's decision: to take pressure off Kashmir, he ordered an attack across the international border in Punjab.
• Pakistan now had to defend its own heartland.

• Its forces were pulled away from the Akhnoor thrust.

• The Indian army reached close to Lahore. The front pages of The Times of India and Hindustan Times, reproduced in NCERT, read: "Our troops on outskirts of Lahore".

• India also captured strategic posts in Kashmir, such as the Haji Pir pass.

5. UN intervention and the ceasefire

• UN Security Council Resolution 211 (20 September 1965):
• It was adopted at the Council's 1242nd meeting by 10 votes to 0, with 1 abstention (Jordan) [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].

• In practice, the guns fell silent on 23 September 1965. Britannica dates the end of the war to 22 September [5].

• UN observer missions checked that the ceasefire held:

Mission	Area watched	Basis
UNMOGIP (UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan)	Ceasefire line inside J&K	Already present since 1949 [4]
UNIPOM (UN India-Pakistan Observation Mission)	India–Pakistan border outside J&K	Set up under Resolution 211 (1965) [4]

6. The Tashkent Agreement (10 January 1966)

• Tashkent Agreement / Declaration: a peace agreement that formally ended the 1965 war. It was signed in Tashkent (in Soviet Uzbekistan) on 10 January 1966 by Shastri and Ayub Khan [2][5].
• Mediator: the Soviet Union, through Premier Alexei Kosygin. A mediator is a third party who helps two sides reach an agreement.
• Main terms [2]:
• Peace: both sides would work for good-neighbourly relations under the UN Charter. They would not use force and would settle disputes peacefully. The text speaks of the welfare of "600 million people" of the two countries.
• Kashmir: it was discussed, but each side only "set forth its respective position". Nothing was settled.
• Withdrawal: all armed personnel were to go back, no later than 25 February 1966, to the positions they held before 5 August 1965. Both sides would respect the ceasefire line.
• Non-interference: neither side 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. Both 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, and both would discuss returning seized property.

• UN record: India sent the text to the UN Security Council by a letter dated 24 March 1966 [8]. It was also registered in the UN Treaty Series, Volume 560, No. 8166 [9].

• Criticism at home: India had to give back captured posts such as Haji Pir. Many people felt India had won on the battlefield but lost at the negotiating table.
• Shastri died in Tashkent on 11 January 1966, the day after signing. Indira Gandhi then became Prime Minister.

7. Consequences

(a) Military and diplomatic

• India inflicted considerable military losses on Pakistan, and Pakistan's plan for Kashmir failed.
• The war showed that force could not change the Kashmir status quo.
• The USSR emerged as peacemaker and arms supplier.
• It was trusted by both sides, so it could broker Tashkent.

• This prepared the ground for the 1971 Indo-Soviet Treaty.

• The US placed an arms embargo on both sides. This hurt Pakistan more, because it depended on US weapons, and it pushed India further towards Soviet arms.

(b) Economic and planning

• The war made an already weak economy worse.
• A Department of Defence Supplies was set up in November 1965 to make India less dependent on imported arms, and defence spending rose.
• Planning was knocked off course:
• The war and the droughts of 1965-66 and 1966-67 derailed the Third Five-Year Plan (1961-66).
• Three Annual Plans (1966-67, 1967-68, 1968-69) followed. This gap is often called the "Plan Holiday".
• The Fourth Plan began only in 1969 (→ planned-development-politics).

(c) Domestic politics and food security

• "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan" ("Hail the soldier, hail the farmer"): Shastri's slogan. It linked national defence with growing enough food.
• Food shortages and dependence on US food aid (PL-480) pushed India towards food self-sufficiency, and later towards the Green Revolution.
• Article 51 (Directive Principles) asks the state to promote international peace and to settle disputes by arbitration. The Kutch tribunal and the Tashkent talks are examples of this in practice.

8. NCERT link: domestic compulsions and the international climate

• NCERT Exercise 4 asks for a 1960s example of domestic needs interacting with the world situation. 1965-66 fits well:
• War and drought at home → India needed food aid and arms.
• The US cut off arms and used food aid as pressure → India moved closer to the USSR and turned to self-reliance.
• This later shaped the 1966 rupee devaluation and Indira Gandhi's foreign-policy choices.

Prelims Hooks

• Rann of Kutch tribunal award (1968): about 90% of the disputed area to India and 10% to Pakistan. The new line was marked on the ground in 1969 [5].
• Operation Gibraltar (August 1965): Pakistan's plan to infiltrate J&K and start a local revolt. It failed because the local people did not support it [5].
• UNSC Resolution 211 (20 September 1965): demanded a ceasefire from 22 September 1965, 0700 GMT. Jordan abstained [3].
• UNIPOM: watched the border outside J&K. UNMOGIP: watched the line inside J&K. This is a common trap [4].
• Tashkent Declaration (10 January 1966): signed by Shastri and President Ayub Khan, not a Pakistani Prime Minister. It was mediated by Soviet Premier Kosygin, not Brezhnev.
• Tashkent's withdrawal terms: forces went back to positions held before 5 August 1965, with a deadline of 25 February 1966 [2].
• Tashkent commits both sides to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961 [2].
• Shastri died in Tashkent on 11 January 1966.
• Department of Defence Supplies: created in November 1965.
• Plan Holiday (1966-69): three Annual Plans between the Third Plan (1961-66) and the Fourth Plan (1969-74).

Mains Points

• Winning the war vs winning the peace: India came close to Lahore, but at Tashkent it returned Haji Pir and got no settlement on Kashmir.
• Critics say this traded military gains for Soviet goodwill.

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

• Security and development are linked:

• The war, together with drought, wrecked the Third Plan and forced the Plan Holiday.

• It started defence self-reliance (Department of Defence Supplies, 1965) and the push for food security ("Jai Jawan Jai Kisan").

• A change in non-alignment: the US arms embargo and the USSR's role as mediator moved India towards Moscow. This showed that non-alignment had to adjust to a country's security needs, which led to the 1971 treaty.

• Ways of settling disputes:
• Rann of Kutch: third-party arbitration (1968 award).
• 1965 war: third-party mediation (Tashkent).
• After 1971 India insisted on bilateralism (Shimla, 1972). 1965-66 explains why India came to distrust outside involvement in Kashmir.