vajpayee lahore trip

Lahore Summit

• February 21, 1999

The text of the Joint Statement issued at the end of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s visit to Lahore

In response to an invitation by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Minister of India, Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee, visited Pakistan from 20-21 February, 1999, on the inaugural run of the Delhi-Lahore bus service.

The Prime Minister of Pakistan received the Indian Prime Minister at the Wagah border on 20th February 1999. A banquet in honor of the Indian Prime Minister and his delegation was hosted by the Prime Minister of Pakistan at Lahore Fort, on the same evening. Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, visited Minar-e- Pakistan, Mausoleum of Allama Iqabal, Gurudawara Dera Sahib and Samadhi of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh. On 21st February, a civic reception was held in honor of the visiting Prime Minister at the Governor’s House.

The two leaders held discussions on the entire range of bilateral relations, regional cooperation within SAARC, and issues of international concern. They decided that:

• The two Foreign Ministers will meet periodically to discuss all issues of mutual concern, including nuclear related issues.
• The two sides shall undertake consultations on WTO related issues with a view to coordinating their respective positions.
• The two sides shall determine areas of cooperation in Information Technology, in particular for tackling the problems of Y2K.
• The two sides will hold consultations with a view to further liberalizing the visa and travel regime.
• The two sides shall appoint a two member committee at ministerial level to examine humanitarian issues relating to Civilian detainees and missing POWs.

They expressed satisfaction on the commencement of a Bus Service between Lahore and New Delhi, the release of fishermen and civilian detainees and the renewal of contacts in the field of sports.

Pursuant to the directive given by the two Prime Ministers, the Foreign Secretaries of Pakistan and India signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 21st February 1999, identifying measures aimed at promoting an environment of peace and security between the two countries.

The two Prime Ministers signed the Lahore Declaration embodying their shared vision of peace and stability between their countries and of progress and prosperity for their peoples.

Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee extended an invitation to Prime Minister, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, to visit India on mutually convenient dates.

Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, thanked Prime Minister, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, for the warm welcome and gracious hospitality extended to him and members of his delegation and for the excellent arrangements made for his visit.

The text of the Memorandum of Understanding

The Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan:-

Reaffirming the continued commitment of their respective governments to the principles and purposes of the U.N. Charter;

Reiterating the determination of both countries to implementing the Shimla Agreement in letter and spirit;

Guided by the agreement between their Prime Ministers of 23rd September 1998 that an environment of peace and security is in the supreme national interest of both sides and that resolution of all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, is essential for this purpose;

Pursuant to the directive given by their respective Prime Ministers in Lahore, to adopt measures for promoting a stable environment of peace, and security between the two countries;

Have on this day, agreed to the following:-

• The two sides shall engage in bilateral consultations on security concepts, and nuclear doctrines, with a view to developing measures for confidence building in the nuclear and conventional fields, aimed at avoidance of conflict.
• The two sides undertake to provide each other with advance notification in respect of ballistic missile flight tests, and shall conclude a bilateral agreement in this regard.
• The two sides are fully committed to undertaking national measures to reducing the risks of accidental or unauthorized use of nuclear weapons under their respective control. The two sides further undertake to notify each, other immediately in the event of any accidental, unauthorized or unexplained incident that could create the risk of a fallout with adverse consequences for both sides, or an outbreak of a nuclear war between the two countries, as well as to adopt measures aimed at diminishing the possibility of such actions, or such incidents being misinterpreted by the other. The two side shall identify/establish the appropriate communication mechanism for this purpose.
• The two sides shall continue to abide by their respective unilateral moratorium on conducting further nuclear test explosions unless either side, in exercise of its national sovereignty decides that extraordinary events have jeopardized its supreme interests.
• The two sides shall conclude an agreement on prevention of incidents at sea in order to ensure safety of navigation by naval vessels, and aircraft belonging to the two sides.
• The two sides shall periodically review the implementation of existing Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) and where necessary, set up appropriate consultative mechanisms to monitor and ensure effective implementation of these CBMs.
• The two sides shall undertake a review of the existing communication links (e.g. between the respective Directors- General, Military Operations) with a view to upgrading and improving these links, and to provide for fail-safe and secure communications.
• The two sides shall engage in bilateral consultations on security, disarmament and non-proliferation issues within the context of negotiations on these issues in multilateral fora.

Where required, the technical details of the above measures will be worked out by experts of the two sides in meetings to be held on mutually agreed dates, before mid 1999, with a view to reaching bilateral agreements.

Done at Lahore on 21st February 1999 in the presence of Prime Minister of India, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, and Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.

(K. Raghunath) Foreign Secretary of the Republic of India

(Shamshad Ahmad) Foreign Secretary of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

The text of the Lahore Declaration

The Prime Ministers of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of India:

Sharing a vision of peace and stability between their countries, and of progress and prosperity for their peoples;

Convinced that durable peace and development of harmonious relations and friendly cooperation will serve the vital interests of the people of the two countries, enabling them to devote their energies for a better future;

Recognizing that the nuclear dimension of the security environment of the two countries add to their responsibility for avoidance of conflict between the two countries;

Committed to the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations, and the universally accepted principles of peaceful co-existence;

Reiterating the determination of both countries to implementing the Simla Agreement in letter and spirit;

Committed to the objectives of universal nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation;

Convinced of the importance of mutually agreed confidence building measures for improving the security environment;

Recalling their agreement of 23 September 1998, 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 this purpose;

Have agreed that their respective Governments:

• Shall intensify their efforts to resolve all issues, including the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.
• Shall refrain for intervention and interference in each other’s internal affairs.
• Shall intensify their compositor and integrated dialogue process for an early and positive outcome of the agreed bilateral agenda.
• Shall take immediate steps for reducing the risk of accidental or unauthorized use of nuclear weapons and discuss concepts and doctrines with a view to elaborating measures for confidence building in the nuclear and conventional fields, aimed at prevention of conflict.

As we break bread together; a new century and a new millennium knocks on our doors. Fifty years of our independence have gone by. On one side there is pride and on the other regret. Pride because both the countries have been successful in retaining their independence; but regret because even after 50 years we have not liberated ourselves from the curse of poverty and unemployment.

I am grateful to you, Mr Prime Minister, for hosting this banquet in such a historic location. It was in this magnificent fort that Shahjahan was born; it is here than Akbar lived for over a decade.

My delegation and I are overwhelmed by the warmth of your welcome, and the gracious hospitality extended to us. Mr Prime Minister, you have upheld the nobility of this fort and the tradition of the historic city of Lahore. On this occasion, I am reminded of the lines of the 11th century poet Mas’ud bin S’ad bin Salman.

‘Shud dar gham ‘Lohur rawanam Yarab! Yarab! Ki dar arzu-e anam Yarab!’ (My soul goes out in longing for Lohur, O God! How I long for it)

Excellency, this is the first visit by an Indian prime minister to Pakistan in 10 years. I am delighted to be here. When I inspected the guard of honor and saw the beautiful panorama of the setting sun, I was overwhelmed by mixed feelings. It gave me joy that I was returning here after 21 years with the message of friendship. My regret is that we have spent so much time in mutual bitterness. It is unworthy of two nations the size of India and Pakistan to have wasted so much time in mutual ill-will.

Earlier when I came to Pakistan, I was alone. This time we have representatives from every section of Indian society.

The bus service between Lahore and Delhi is not a means only to ease travel from one country to another. The running of the bus between the two countries symbolizes the desire of the people to improve relations and come together. Indeed, if this was only a bus made of metal, it would not have caused such excitement and expectations, not only in our two nations but all over the world.

It is our duty, Mr Prime Minister, to pursue the desires and wishes of our peoples; to develop, trust, confidence, amity and to create a solid structure for co-operation.

We have been encouraged that our interaction in recent months has focused on issues which directly benefit the lives of our peoples. Our two countries have engaged within the composite dialogue process to work out mechanisms to ensure that humanitarian concerns are addressed quickly; that possibilities of economic and commercial co-operation such as sale of power are identified and pursued; that confidence-building measures are discussed and agreed upon. But this marks only a beginning. We will, together, give directions to our officials to accelerate what we have jointly set in motion.

We have also discussed those areas of relationship on which we do not see eye to eye. That is only inevitable. As we seek to resolve issues, we have to be conscious that there is nothing which cannot be solved through goodwill and direct dialogue. That is the only path.

I am convinced that there is nothing in our bilateral relations that can ever be resolved through violence. The solution of complex outstanding issues can only be sought in an atmosphere free from prejudice and by adopting the path of balance, moderation and realism. To those that preach, practice or foment violence, I have only one message: understand the simple truth of the path of peace and amity. That is why, as part of the composite dialogue process, we welcome sustained discussions on all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir. As we approach a new millennium, the future beckons us. It calls upon us, indeed demands of us, to think of the welfare of our children and their children, and of the generations that are yet to come.

I have brought but one message from India. There can be no greater legacy that we can leave behind than to do away with mistrust, to abjure and eliminate conflict, to erect an edifice of durable peace amity, harmony and co-operation. I am confident that through our combined efforts we will succeed in doing so, no matter how hard we have to work in achieving it.

Permit me to extend to you, Mr Prime Minister and to Begum Sahiba a most cordial invitation to visit India. Let me assure you that you will find in India a very warm welcome. We look forward to receiving both of you soon in India.

I express my best wishes for your progress and prosperity, for the establishment of durable peace and co-operation between India and Pakistan.

Let me first of all welcome you to the historic city of Lahore. I hope your stay has been pleasant.

It has been a pleasure for us to host the Prime Minister of India and his delegation.

Prime Minister Vajpayee and I have met for the third time. It is our first meeting on the Pakistan soil.

I am happy to note that we were able to move beyond the symbolism attached to the inauguration of the Lahore-Delhi Bus Service.

Our talks have been substantive, constructive and candid.

We were able to undertake a comprehensive review of our bilateral relations. I have underscored to Prime Minister Vajpayee the immense potential of building a mutually beneficial co-operative relationship, once we achieve a final settlement of Jammu and Kashmir issue.

We have discussed issues relating to peace and security in our region, especially the nuclear related questions.

I reiterated Pakistan’s principled position on nuclear and conventional issues as well as our earnest desire to avoid an arms race in region.

Pakistan is interested in promoting confidence building measures in the nuclear and conventional field with the view to reducing the danger of conflict and leading to nuclear restraint and stabilization.

Neither Pakistan nor India has gained anything from the conflicts and tensions of the past 50 years. The peoples of the region risk losing out in the march or development if we remain caught in a vicious cycle of mistrust and suspicion.

If we look around us, confrontation is giving way to cooperation. Complex disputes are being resolved. Nations are increasingly becoming engaged in mutually beneficial interaction.

There is no reason why these positive global trends should by-pass South Asia.

I would like a Pakistan-India relationship that is free of tensions and based on mutual trust and confidence. Should we achieve this, there is no limit to cooperation between our two countries.

I am convinced that the objectives of peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia can be achieved provided there is the will and commitment.

Let us dedicate our energies to further promote and strengthen regional cooperation under SARRC for the peoples of South Asia, through peace, security and development.

We must bring peace to South Asia. We must bring prosperity to our peoples.

We owe this to ourselves and to our future generations.

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Bus ride to Lahore with Vajpayee: When Kapil Dev was most gracious and Dev Anand went down memory lane

NEW DELHI: A host of luminaries from different fields were on the bus that took Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the historic journey from Amritsar to Lahore in 1999 but cricketer Kapil Dev was perhaps the most gracious, recalls the late prime minister's private secretary Shakti Sinha in a new book.

It took 40 minutes for the bus to go from the Indian side of the Punjab to the Pakistani side and the seat next to Vajpayee on that momentous ride was a much coveted one.

"The bus had two seats on either side of the aisle. Vajpayee was on the first seat on the left side of the bus, all by himself.

Throughout the short forty-minute journey, we provided an opportunity for each member of the delegation to sit with Vajpayee and chat for a while.

"Kapil Dev came across as the most gracious, quickly moving out when it was the turn of somebody else to sit with Vajpayee. With some of the others, I had to almost physically evict them; they shall not be named as they are not with us any more," Sinha writes in "Vajpayee: The Years that Changed India" that hit the stands on Friday, the late leader's 96th birth anniversary.

Among the others accompanying Vajpayee on the journey were journalist Kuldip Nayar, poet Javed Akhtar, actor Dev Anand, singer Mahendra Kapoor and actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha.

Sinha also has a tale to tell about the late Dev Anand, who has legions of fans in Pakistan.

When the bus reached the other side of the border, the two prime ministers, Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif, hugged each other.

Dev Anand, who stood next to them, started reminiscing about the time when he left Lahore for Mumbai.

"(he) would have carried on till we gently guided him away," Sinha says.

The prime minister's motorcade gets a free pass on the roads but a car carrying his hearing aid does not, he says, recounting the delay at the beginning of the journey in Delhi.

On the way to the airport in Delhi to board the flight to Amritsar, Vajpayee realised he had forgotten his hearing device at home.

"On our way to the airport, Vajpayee turned to me and nervously told me that he had left his hearing device at home. He had been checking his pockets and found them empty! Fortunately, we had cell phones by then, so I quickly rang back and asked for it to be sent pronto," Sinha writes.

"Fortunately for us, the PM's plane, operated by the air force, always has sufficient margin, a fact I knew by then. That knowledge gave us breathing space. We boarded but could not leave immediately since the car with the hearing aid was still on the way. But we were lucky that the traffic was light and the delay was a manageable twenty minutes," he adds.

The inaugural bus, 'Sada-e-sarhad', ran on February 19, 1999 between Delhi and Lahore, a distance of around 500 km, with three technical halts, taking a total of 14 hours.

Though Vajpayee was to travel all the way from Delhi, the plan was later modified and he boarded the bus at Amritsar airport.

Sinha, who is presently the director of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Policy Research and International Studies, MS University, Vadodara, also says Pakistan's then prime minister Sharif sent a word to his wife Begum Kulsoom Nawaz to drive from Islamabad to Lahore when he noticed that Vajpayee's foster daughter Namita Kaul Bhattacharya was part of the delegation.

Namita Kaul's husband Ranjan Bhattacharya and their daughter Niharika were also part of the tour.

"This indicated how much Vajpayee was personally invested in the visit, raising the tenor of the occasion by a few octaves," Sinha writes   The 'bus diplomacy', as it was called in later years, was hailed as the dawn of a new era in India-Pakistan relations but proved to be a short-lived thaw in the stormy relationship between the two countries.

Within months India and Pakistan were embroiled in the Kargil battle.

The over 300-page book, which consists of 10 chapters, is published by Penguin Random House India.

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On 23 May 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Narendra Modi won the most decisive mandate by any incumbent since Indira Gandhi’s Congress government in 1971.

Just three months before, in February, in response to a terrorist attack in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Air Force crossed the Line of Control and conducted air strikes in the town of Balakot in Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. This strike was a central theme of the BJP’s re-election campaign.

Nearly seven decades ago, in 1947, militia from the same Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa region, then known as the North West Frontier Province, dressed in plainclothes, conducted a surprise invasion on Jammu and Kashmir. Just a few months after Independence, this invasion would kick-start the protracted India-Pakistan conflict centred on Kashmiri territory.

What connects the two events? Twenty-one years ago, in May 1998, both India and Pakistan conducted nuclear tests. Over the next 12 months, these two rivals went from making one of the most significant peace overtures to fighting the world’s first and only hot conflict between two nuclear powers.

These 12 months in 1998-99 transformed the India-Pakistan rivalry. Nuclear weapons have since ensured a certain deterrence, and demonstrated that they may not be used in the resolution of political disagreements. But even seven decades after Partition, the rivalry with Pakistan is a substantial vote-fetcher in Indian politics.

This is ThePrint’s PastForward . Through a series of interviews, research and reporting, the aim is to recreate The Year That Changed South Asia. This is the second of a three-part story that begins with India’s nuclear tests in May 1998 and ends with the Kargil War in 1999. But its origins and impact are not limited to these 12 months.

New Delhi: On 19 February 1999, Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee boarded the inaugural bus to Lahore at Amritsar, and in about 30 minutes, reached the India-Pakistan border at Attari-Wagah.

“In 30 seconds, Vajpayee crossed a time zone and gained 30 minutes. For the two countries, however, the gain was more tangible. India and Pakistan, which nine months ago seemed to be on the verge of triggering a nuclear arms race in South Asia, had crossed a time warp,” journalists Swapan Dasgupta and Harinder Baweja wrote in India Today .

In the next 26 hours on 20-21 February 1999, Vajpayee and his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, would make a valiant effort to rewrite the history of South Asia. Vajpayee visited the Minar-e-Pakistan — a monument within shouting distance of Aurangzeb’s Badshahi Masjid and Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Samadhi — which commemorates the foundation of the Islamic republic, thereby forever laying to rest concerns fuelled by the BJP’s political predecessor, the Jana Sangh, that India was really ‘Akhand Bharat’ and would never recognise the existence of Pakistan.

Vajpayee and Sharif signed the ‘Lahore Declaration’, and in a moving speech at the Governor’s House in Lahore, Vajpayee said it was the destiny of both countries to end five decades of hostility and move towards peace and good-neighbourly feelings.

But the road to Vajpayee’s Lahore trip was far from smooth. Just nine months before, in May 1998, both India and Pakistan had successfully conducted nuclear tests. South Asia’s gravest security conflict now featured the potential use of nuclear weapons. In the span of a few weeks, South Asia emerged as the world’s nuclear hotspot, and drew the attention of all major global powers.

Also read PastForward Part 1: How Pokhran nuclear tests kicked off a year that changed India-Pakistan ties forever

There was tremendous pressure on both India and Pakistan to reopen their diplomatic channels and establish the basic protocols pertaining nuclear behaviour.

It was in this global setting that Vajpayee and Sharif made one the boldest bids for lasting peace.

But there was more to these diplomatic manoeuvres. “Vajpayee’s bus yatra (trip) was as much about Indo-Pakistan diplomacy as about Vajpayee the politician… He was a crafty old man, who conducted nuclear tests to demonstrate India’s might, but at heart he was a peacenik,” former R&AW chief A.S. Dulat told ThePrint.

Sharif’s interest in a peaceful solution

The origins of the Vajpayee-Sharif peace overture lie in 1996 , when Benazir Bhutto was Pakistan’s prime minister and Sharif was the leader of the opposition. Pakistan was set to hold general elections in a few months.

At this time, Frank Wisner , the US Ambassador to India, was visiting Pakistan and called on Sharif. During their meeting, Sharif asked Wisner whether there was a way to break the Indo-Pakistan logjam. To this, Wisner replied that there wasn’t, unless “you guys give up on your maximalist positions [on Kashmir]”.

During his electoral campaign, Sharif did exactly that. He announced that he would hold intense discussions with India on Kashmir, and try to improve the country’s relations with India.

After the campaign, Sharif told Sartaj Aziz , who would later become his foreign minister: “Sartaj sahib mai gal kar di (I have said it).” Effectively, Sharif had tied his own hands by declaring that he would try to negotiate with India. Sharif won the elections and returned to power.

In Delhi, the 13-day Vajpayee government had given way to a government led first by H.D. Deve Gowda, and then Inder Kumar Gujral. Gujral had been a refugee of Partition, his roots lay on the other side in Pakistan, and he believed that as the much larger nation, India should be generous with its smaller neighbours. After a meeting on the sidelines of the SAARC summit in Male in the Maldives in May 1997, India and Pakistan had launched a comprehensive dialogue at the foreign secretary level to discuss terrorism and Jammu & Kashmir, while six more working groups dealt with other contentious issues between the two countries.

The Gujral government fell by the end of the year. By May 1998, India-Pakistan were testing nuclear weapons.

The Sharif-Vajpayee negotiations

Once Vajpayee came back to power in March 1998, he immediately authorised a nuclear test. And Pakistan responded with tit-for-tat nuclear tests. Following the tests, there was tremendous international pressure on both India and Pakistan to reopen their diplomatic channels.

“We had to get rid of that international pressure. And what better way to tell the world that … ‘okay I am going to meet Nawaz’ … We don’t need all the international mediation. We will manage our affairs with Pakistan,” said G. Parthasarthy, the then-Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan said of Vajpayee’s thought process on the issue.

But Vajpayee’s road to Pakistan wasn’t so straightforward.

In September 1998, at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Vajpayee had invited Sharif for an informal chat. Only a few months after the two states tested nuclear weapons, the aim of the meeting was to establish normalcy in Indo-Pakistani relations. Moreover, the discussion centred on possible confidence building measures (CBMs) between the two countries.

The idea of starting a Delhi-Lahore bus service had been mooted a few times during various Indo-Pak track two dialogues. During the New York meeting, Sharif talked about how he had driven to Delhi in 1982 in his own car to attend the Asian Games. Upon hearing Sharif, it was instantly suggested that an India-Pakistan bus service be started.

According to the book India at Risk , penned by then external affairs minister Jaswant Singh, it was also during these discussions that an idea was floated that Vajpayee should visit Lahore, and Sharif would give him a grand welcome. Vivek Katju, who was then heading the Pakistan desk at Delhi’s Ministry of External Affairs, whispered into Jaswant Singh’s ear, “Suggest going by bus from Amritsar.”

On Katju’s advice, Singh promptly suggested that Vajpayee should go on a bus to Lahore. Both Vajpayee and Sharif instantly liked the idea and it was approved right away.

However, just executive approval was not sufficient. Over the next few months, from September 1998 to January 1999, intense diplomatic negotiations would take place. Often these negotiations were stuck and delayed owing to complex inter-agency wrangling in both countries. Through this tiresome bureaucratic process, the idea of Vajpayee visiting Pakistan had been lost. The plan now was that Vajpayee would flag the bus service from Amritsar and Sharif would do the same from Lahore.

Just a few weeks before the bus service was supposed to be inaugurated, Sharif called up Vajpayee and asked him: “How can you return from my doorstep without visiting me?”

Vajpayee instantly accepted Sharif’s invitation, though there was no public announcement regarding his trip to Lahore. The public acceptance to Sharif’s invitation would involve an interesting sub-plot .

Sharif agreed to give an interview to Shekhar Gupta, then Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express , and now Founder and Editor-in-Chief at ThePrint. Sharif told Gupta that during the interview, he would officially invite Vajpayee to visit Pakistan in the inaugural bus. Subsequently, Gupta checked with Vajpayee whether he should go ahead with Sharif’s proposed plan. Vajpayee gave the green light.

In a long interview, Sharif extended the official invitation, and soon after, during an interaction with media, Vajpayee publicly accepted Sharif’s invitation.

Also read: Outing a personal secret as a lesson for Imran: Featuring Vajpayee, Nawaz & a bit of me

Vajpayee goes to Lahore

On 19 February, Vajpayee boarded the bus from Amritsar to Lahore via the Attari-Wagah border. Accompanying him were several Punjabi and Urdu -speaking eminent persons, including journalist Kuldip Nayar, Punjab politician Parkash Singh Badal, classical dancer Mallika Sarabhai, actors Dev Anand and Shatrughan Sinha and poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar.

On crossing the border, Vajpayee was received by Sharif and his entourage at Wagah. The reception featured a 21-gun salute, a guard of honour presenting arms, and national anthems of both countries. The absence of any of Pakistan’s military chiefs was noted and widely reported.

“This is a defining moment in South Asian history and we will be able to rise to the challenge. It is with a sense of elation I found myself on Pakistani soil after a gap of 21 years,” announced Vajpayee.

After the border reception, the Indian delegation was flown to Lahore. Reflecting on the helicopter ride, Jaswant Singh noted that the governor of Punjab was travelling with him. Knowing Singh’s background, the governor asked him if he was a good pilot.

“And when I had somewhat non-committally shrugged my shoulders in response, he had added: ‘Well, I am philosophical; I leave everything in God’s hands’.

“‘So were we, were we not?’ I had responded inwardly,” wrote Singh.

No one knew the possible outcome of this diplomatic initiative. But the same Vajpayee who put the nuclear tests on his manifesto a year ago had now taken a massive leap of faith into the unknown. Though, in retrospect, Vajpayee’s efforts went in vain, but what he managed to achieve in Lahore over the next 24 hours was utterly unprecedented.

Two significant incidents

Over the next 24 hours, Vajpayee attended a state banquet at the Lahore Fort, signed the Lahore Declaration with Sharif, visited the Minar-e-Pakistan, and gave one of the most heart-wrenching speeches at the Governor’s House.

Two of these incidents deserve to be recounted here.

Vajpayee not only expressed his desire, but also insisted that he be taken to Minar-e-Pakistan, the monument where the Muslim League passed its 23 March 1940 resolution to create a separate state for the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent. For an Indian leader inculcated in the traditions of Hindu nationalism, which rejects the two-nation theory, this was an immensely significant move.

Dulat said he later learnt that the Pakistani government feared if Vajpayee might say something odd about Pakistan’s creation or existence — something that might strike an unpleasant note.

Sharif, though reluctantly, accompanied Vajpayee to the Minar, and to everyone’s surprise, it turned out to be the single biggest highlight of the visit. Vajpayee wrote in the visitors’ book at the monument: “A stable, secure and prosperous Pakistan is in India’s interest. Let no one in Pakistan be in doubt, India sincerely wishes Pakistan well.”

Speaking at a civic reception held at the Governor’s House, Vajpayee again delivered the same message. In his signature tone, he told the audience that when he returns to India, people will ask him, “ Kya aap Pakistan par mohar lagane gaye the ? (Did you go to Pakistan to certify it)?

“ Lekin Pakistan ko kisi ki mohar ki zaroorat nahin hai (But Pakistan does not need any one’s endorsement),” remarked Vajpayee. This received a long standing ovation, reportedly lasting five minutes.

In the same speech, Vajpayee went on to quote from his own poem: “ Hum jung na hone denge … Teen bar lad chuke ladayi, kitna mehnga sauda… Hum jung na hone denge .”

The trip was just over a day long, but in many ways, Vajpayee covered an unprecedented amount of distance in the India-Pakistan relationship.

The unknown aspect: Kargil

As mentioned before, several news reports talked about how none of the three Pakistani military service chiefs were present at the border to receive Vajpayee. But they were present at the Governor’s House to greet him once he arrived in Lahore.

Pakistan’s army chief at the time, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, did not salute Vajpayee. Gen. V.P. Malik, the then Indian Army chief, noted that at this point, the Pakistan Army was already invading India’s Kargil sector. By February 1999, Pakistan’s Northern Light Infantry had made deep incursions into Indian territory and set up camps. Given the ongoing invasion, it might have been strange for Musharraf to engage Vajpayee in the rightful manner.

The day Vajpayee left for India, Musharraf boarded a helicopter and flew to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir . Musharraf wanted to signal to his military not to fall in the trap of the peace-making Lahore Declaration, and continue with the on-going operation in Kargil.

Also read: How Modi speaks a different language with Pakistan than what Vajpayee did

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• Atal Bihari Vajpayee
• India-Pakistan
• Nawaz Sharif

They key to thinking about the Lahore declaration is Kargil. For Pakistan, peace talks are simply a cover for a continuing war. How many times do we have to be fooled that until Pakistan takes irreversible steps towards peace? Words are meaningless.

Peace between India and Pakistan will come. Perhaps not in our lifetimes. The subcontinent will not realise its full economic potential till that happens. The fate of one and a half – actually not far short of two – billion people requires statesmanship and courage of the sort PM ABV displayed.

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Bus ride and a hug: How Vajpayee gave Indo-Pak peace a chance before Kargil

The bonhomie between india and pakistan did not last long as just months after vajpayee's visit the pakistan army undertook a covert operation to send its troops into kargil.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee with then Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif. File photo

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A thaw that didn't last: when atal bihari vajpayee took bus to lahore and hugged nawaz sharif.

It was a short-lived thaw in stormy relations between India and Pakistan when Atal Bihari Vajpayee took a bus to Lahore in 1999.

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The real story behind Vajpayee's bus trip to Lahore

'Nawaz Sharif asked: "What if I invited him and he declined?"' 'I said I will check.' 'Vajpayee liked the idea. He said I should see him on my return.' Shekhar Gupta reveals how Sharif wanted to make peace, but was tripped by the army and notes the lessons it has for Imran Khan.

As Imran Khan took over as prime minister of Pakistan -- even as the 30th anniversary of General Zia-ul Haq's death is being observed -- it should be ideal for me to tell this still mostly untold story of a dramatic attempt at peace-making ever by the elected leaders of our two countries.

One of the two leaders it involves passed away on August 16.

The other is incarcerated in a brutal Rawalpindi prison.

Another part player in this saga is this writer. This column, therefore, is also in the nature of a confession.

Mian Nawaz Sharif won his second term in 1997. Shortly after, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance took charge in India.

India-Pakistan relations went into deep freeze with Pokhran-2 and Pakistan's tit-for-tat in Chagai, in an ironical nuclear jugalbandi .

By the last quarter of 1998, however, impatience was evident on both sides.

Both leaders wanted a thaw but there was too much mutual distrust within their 'systems'.

Even the suggestion of a Delhi-Lahore bus service was entangled in bureaucratic quibbling.

It was then, in early winter, that a letter from Pakistan arrived in my mail.

Postmarks showed that the envelope, marked 'from the prime minister of Pakistan', had been in transit for several weeks.

It also hadn't travelled well, which was understandable. It had possibly been steamed open and re-sealed by many competing 'agencies' which are unlikely to have seen a letter from a prime minister of Pakistan in ordinary mail before.

It was harmless: Just a warm, if belated, response to a note from me months earlier asking for an interview.

I called back Nawaz Sharif and asked if I could visit Pakistan for the interview. There was some banter.

I asked what was the point of interviews if our prime ministers could not get anything moving.

Forget big things, I said, you people can't even get that bus moving.

Nawaz Sharif muttered the usual complaints with hidebound diplomats.

I said, still in that light-hearted exchange in Punjabi: "Why don't you announce the bus in the interview and invite our prime minister to Pakistan on the first bus?"

Nawaz Sharif liked that idea. But he asked: "What if I invited him and he declined? It will look really bad."

I said I will check.

Which I did. Vajpayee too liked the idea. But he said I should see him on my return and not publish it until then.

In the interview at his Lahore home, often interrupted by cricket when Sachin Tendulkar battled back pain to play his brilliant innings that almost won the Chennai Test against Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif kept his promise.

Start the bus, he said, and invited Vajpayee to be on it. He will ensure a welcome, he said, that history will remember.

Vajpayee asked me to hold it for a day. He wanted the interview to be published on the day he was landing early morning in Lucknow.

He wanted to ensure a reporter ask him a question on Nawaz Sharif's invitation. Which, he said, he would publicly accept before the ministry of external affairs came up with its usual doubts.

The rest is well-recorded history.

The visit happened soon after too much drama. There were some discordant notes, particularly with then Pakistan army chief General Pervez Musharraf refusing to salute him in welcome.

Vajpayee walked up the steps of the Minar-e-Pakistan to say a stable and prosperous Pakistan was in India's best interests.

History, it seemed, was being made. It was heady to have been part of it.

Somebody today might say that the interview was 'fixed'. If so, it was to good purpose. It was also a terrific newsbreak.

The story doesn't end yet.

While the two prime ministers were having their peace fest, unknown to both of them, the Pakistan army was infiltrating miles across a wide frontier in Kargil and digging in.

By mid-May, the first clashes took place.

On May 26, India flung in air power. Two MiGs were lost to shoulder-fired missiles on the next day. A third, a lumbering Canberra on photo-reconnaissance took a missile hit on one of its engines, but was fortunately nursed back to base safely.

Nobody was prepared for this.

The phone rang in my hotel room in Mumbai early, 6.30 am, and the caller said the prime minister wanted to speak to me.

He sounded concerned. " Yeh kya kar raha hai mitr aap ka? ( What is this friend of yours doing? )." he asked.

He said everybody was taken by surprise, how can mere mujahideen have missiles, and all this while Pakistan's army chief was in China.

So what the hell is going on, can you ask your friend? I left a message at the usual number in Islamabad.

The call came later that night. Nawaz Sharif sounded as perplexed as Vajpayee.

"You can tell him I won't betray him. I was told yesterday there were some routine clashes on the LoC and today they reported 'air violations'," he said.

"I am also surprised," he said, adding he would want to engage with Vajpayee.

Vajpayee and Brajesh Mishra called me on my return.

They said 'our people' had intercepted some phone conversations between General Musharraf and his deputy , confirming that Kargil was purely a military operation.

Would I, therefore, go to Islamabad again on the pretext of an interview and tell Nawaz Sharif about the tapes.

By this time, I was chastened. I can't, and I shouldn't, I politely told them.

The earlier interview was a genuine scoop and the bus ride a collateral benefit. But this was going too far from journalism.

They understood. They asked another editor, a former one, to do this.

R K Mishra, then with the Observer Research Foundation, made several trips to Islamabad. He even delivered to Nawaz Sharif the tapes of those intercepted conversations as evidence.

My story, or extra-journalistic adventure, had ended.

Vajpayee led India to victory in Kargil. He turned the betrayal to his advantage and emerged with unhandled stature.

• How Rediff covered Kargil in 1999: Week 1 , Week 2 , Week 3 , Week 4 , Week 5 , Week 6

Sharif, who was forced to sue for peace through President Bill Clinton, wasn't so fortunate.

• The Man Who Helped End The Kargil War

This led to a breakdown in his relations with his army, a coup within months, imprisonment and a long exile.

With this ended the most determined effort by an elected Pakistani leader to take foreign and strategic, especially India, policies from the army.

It is unlikely that such an opportunity would arise again.

Very improbable to see Imran Khan gathering the courage to challenge his army-Inter-Services Intelligence establishment for real power.

There are many lessons here for Pakistan's new prime minister.

First, trying to make peace with India is risky, and definitely suicidal to do it over the generals' head.

Second, that no elected prime minister in Pakistan has been allowed by the same establishment to complete a full term yet.

And third, that every elected prime minister has ended up being exiled, jailed, killed, or, as in the case of Benazir Bhutto, all three.

Imran has taken risks in life: In cricket, relationships, marriage and politics.

But the basic power equation in his country hasn't changed.

If anything, it has reversed whatever democratic easing may have taken place in the past decade.

If at all he tries to make peace, it will be because his army told him to do so, not in its defiance.

And even if new beginnings were to be made, I will never again be drawn in!

It's tempting, but tricky. Even if it might be a fine story to tell later.

There are four reasons I decided to tell it now: Vajpayee's departure, Nawaz Sharif's imprisonment, Imran's swearing-in and, most important, that 20 years have passed since.

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Explained: All about 1999 Lahore Declaration and how Pakistan ’violated’ it

In a rare admission, former pakistan prime minister nawaz sharif accepted that his country violated the 1999 lahore declaration, which he signed with his indian counterpart atal bihari vajpayee..

What was the 1999 Lahore Declaration? 

India and Pakistan conducted their respective nuclear tests in 1998, which raised global concerns regarding the historical tensions between the neighbouring countries. With some nudge from the international powers, Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee decided to travel to Pakistan and sign the historic 1999 Lahore Declaration with Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif . 

The declaration outlined key steps both countries should take to improve bilateral relations and resolve outstanding issues, particularly the Kashmir conflict. The 1999 Lahore Declaration laid out various objectives, and both countries agreed to reaffirm their commitment to the principles and purposes of the United Nations Charter and their determination to implement the Simla Agreement in letter and spirit.

Key highlights of the 1999 Lahore Declaration

1. Nuclear and Conventional Safety : The two countries emphasised the need to take immediate steps to ensure the safe and authorised use of nuclear energy and reduce the risk of accidental or unauthorised use of nuclear weapons .

2. Kashmir issue : India and Pakistan agreed to intensify their efforts to resolve all conflicts related to Kashmir, through proper diplomatic channels. 

3. Confidence-Building Measures: The two sides also agreed to keep the channels of communication open and engage in a structured dialogue to address all issues of concern to build mutual confidence . 

4. Commitment to multilateralism : Nawaz Sharif and Atal Bihar Vajpayee emphasised their commitment to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), the multilateral body with the objective of increasing the welfare of people in South Asia. 

5. Terrorism : The Lahore Declaration also called for strict actions against all stakeholders of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. 

The Lahore Declaration was signed in February 1999, and just months later, the Pakistani forces started their manoeuvres in Kargil in May 1999. After more than two months of brutal war, the Indian forces reclaimed the crucial peaks, and Pakistan faced another humiliating defeat. 

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Before Kargil, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Took Bus To Lahore, Hugged Nawaz Sharif

Atal bihari vajpayee, who died today at the age of 93 after a prolonged illness, had made a significant diplomatic breakthrough and travelled on a bus from amritsar to lahore.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Lahore bus journey was about giving peace a chance.

It was a short-lived thaw in stormy relations between India and Pakistan when Atal Bihari Vajpayee took a bus to Lahore in 1999 and hugged his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif leaving an endearing image that symbolised hope in bilateral ties.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who died today at the age of 93 after a prolonged illness, had made a significant diplomatic breakthrough and travelled on a bus from Amritsar to Lahore with a delegation that included actor Dev Anand, writer Javed Akhtar and cricketer Kapil Dev.

 The move was hailed as the dawn of a new era in Indo-Pak relations.

 "I bring the goodwill and hope of my fellow Indians who seek abiding peace and harmony with Pakistan... I am conscious that this is a defining moment in South Asian history and I hope we will be able to rise to the challenge," Atal Bihar Vajpayee had said on his arrival in Lahore.

 After talks between the two prime ministers, the Lahore Declaration was signed, under which, among other things, it was agreed upon that the two sides were fully committed to undertaking measures to reduce risks of accidental or unauthorised use of nuclear weapons.

However, the bonhomie between India and Pakistan did not last long as just months after the visit, the Pakistan Army undertook a covert operation to send its troops into Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir that led to a limited conflict that Pakistan lost.

"He (Vajpayee) gave a speech in Lahore, (it) was very touching because he said that as far as he was concerned, he will not allow a conflict to happen. And that speech carried a huge impact, it was played on Pakistan television," Gopalaswami Parthasarathy, who was India's High Commissioner to Pakistan when Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Lahore, told PTI.

Former foreign secretary Salman Haider said Atal Bihari Vajpayee's contribution to Indo-Pak ties was something that speaks for itself as "he took a great deal of initiative in bringing the two countries into closer proximity with each other".

On Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Lahore bus journey to give peace a chance, Mr Haider said, "I think it was a unique gesture by the prime minister of India and something that does him a great deal of credit."

Atal Bihari Vajpayee is said to have always believed in giving diplomacy and talks a chance and in 2001 he invited the then Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to India for a two-day Agra summit meeting.

However, the talks ended without an agreement and the long-running dispute over Kashmir was seen as the main reason for the deadlock.

Former Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri later wrote in his book "Neither a Hawk nor a Dove" that the "solution to Kashmir was in the grasp of both governments" at the Agra Summit, but could not materialise.

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 "Though, the Agra Summit failed, we gained because we invited him (Musharraf), and he misbehaved," Mr Parthasarathy said.

"He (Vajpayee) was prepared to go the extra mile for peace, but he was also prepared to use military force in defence of the country as he did during Kargil and thereafter the military deployment after the Parliament attack," the former Indian envoy to Pakistan said.

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How the 1999 war exposed Pak policy

The 84-day battle in kargil, and what followed, unmasked islamabad’s sponsorship of cross-border terrorism..

A quarter of a century ago, the 84-day war fought (and won) by India on the glaciated heights of Kargil sector in 1999 marked the beginning of the end of the West’s pro-Islamabad stance, with much of the world waking up to the fact that cross-border terrorism was part of the state policy of the country that had gone nuclear a year before.

The war in which the Indian Army lost 527 soldiers (with another 1363 injured ) was not only a betrayal of the Lahore peace process by then Pakistan Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf but also showed the extent to which Rawalpindi GHQ would go to claim Jammu & Kashmir. It later emerged that while then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was celebrating a bus trip to Lahore with then Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif in February 1999, Gen Musharraf had already given a green signal to his Rawalpindi Corps and Force Commander Northern Areas to cross the verified Line of Control (LoC) in Kargil sector using Pakistan-based terrorists as cover. Keeping PM Sharif in the dark, Musharraf visited his Northern Light Infantry (NLI) troops at Gultari, opposite Mushkoh sector, in March 1999 as recorded in the recovered diary of a fallen Pakistani army captain.

Read more: ‘I believe Vijayant still lives in Kargil... I go there every year’

The Pakistani army’s intrusion into Kargil with terrorists as a cover became evident from the intercepted conversation between Gen Musharraf (while visiting Beijing) and his Chief of General Staff Lt Gen Mohammed Aziz in Rawalpindi on May 26 and May 29. According to the intercepts, Rawalpindi told the terrorists and mujahideen to claim the shooting of IAF Mi-17 helicopter over Drass on May 28. Musharaff’s plan was to seize Indian territory in Jammu and Kashmir as revenge for India’s Operation Meghdoot in Siachen (in 1984, to take full control of the glacial heights); internationalise the Kashmir issue; and disrupt Indian supply lines to south Siachen glacier and weaken the hold of the Indian Army on Saltoro Ridge.

The war, fought over a 200 kilometer range from Mushkoh to Chorbat La all within Indian territory was an eye-opener for western supporters of Pakistan, who had chosen to side with Islamabad for the Great Game in Afghanistan; it was the tipping point after which cross-border terrorism replaced terms such as militants and freedom fighters in the context of Jammu and Kashmir. While India decided to evict the intruders by force after PM Vajpayee’s speech on June 7, 1999, it was US President Bill Clinton who forced PM Nawaz Sharif to order the withdrawal of Pakistan Army troops from Kargil sector during the July 4 meeting at Blair House in Washington. Clinton’s message was reinforced by US Central Army Commander to Musharraf. Sharif would later pay the price in a coup by Musharraf and his generals on October 8, 1999. But there was also another more insidious trend that Kargil ushered.

Read more: Battles that turned the tide in the 1999 Kargil war

While Pakistan was rooted and booted out by July 26 with the largely Shia Northern Light Infantry troops bearing the brunt of the Indian Army’s offensive, its policy of using terrorism against India did not change. Indian Airlines IC-814 flight was hijacked by Harkat-ul-Ansar terrorists to Taliban held Kandahar on December 25, 1999 to free terror kingpin Masood Azhar and two others from Indian custody in a hostage swap deal negotiated by then Intelligence Bureau Additional Director Ajit Doval. The same Azhar, who formed Jaish-e-Mohammed group in Bahawalpur later, targeted the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly using suicide bombers on October 1, 2001 and Indian Parliament on December 13, 2001.

That attack almost led to another war with India mobilising its troops in the western sector on December 17 to take the war to Pakistan. The West, particularly the US, was forced to put pressure on Islamabad to take steps against terrorism as detailed in the January 12, 2002 speech of then President Musharraf.

The US pressure on Pakistan was not a result of the country’s affection for India or sympathy for the latter’s concerns but to ensure that its war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban post the 9/11 terror attacks was not affected by the Indian offensive on Islamabad from the east. After the September 11 attacks, Pakistan was back in western currency as the US under George W Bush needed Islamabad to take on Osama bin Laden and his jihadists within the Islamic Republic as well as Afghanistan with the war on terror being waged across the Durand Line. Still, ties between India and the US , frozen after the 1998 nuclear test , did thaw on account of the Kargil war.

Not that this changed Pakistan’s approach. The proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists attacked an Indian Army camp in Kaluchak on May 14, 2002, with some of the victims being barbarically skinned by the jihadists. Seething with rage, PM Vajpayee ordered massive Indian armed forces mobilization under Operation Parakram to teach Pakistan a lesson but frenetic diplomatic effort by the US and UK ensured that India called off strike against Pakistan in the first week of June.

Read more: View: How PM Modi ensured another Kargil is not repeated

But Operation Parakram yielded a diplomatic dividend in January 2004 when Musharraf bilaterally agreed not to export terror to India from any Pakistan territory. But internally nothing changed in Pakistan as its deep state shifted gears and focused on training radicalized Muslims within India to target Indian cities through the Indian Mujahideen group from 2005 to 2013 with nearly 500 innocents losing their lives and limbs in the process.

It was only on November 26, 2008, when 10 LeT gunmen massacred innocents in Mumbai that the West woke up again to the threat of Pakistan-based (and sponsored) terror groups.

The western alliance with Pakistan took another turn when Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was gunned down in Attock in Pakistan on May 2, 2011 by the Americans who realized that Pakistan had been playing a double game all along in Afghanistan and taking the Pakistan-friendly US State Department and Pentagon for a royal ride.

This was a major turning point in the Af-Pak region with the US and other western powers giving up on Pakistan -- a fact leveraged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to defang and attack the terror apparatus in Pakistan without any fear of a nuclear strike. After the JeM attack on Pathankot airbase on January 2, 2016, Modi gave an opportunity to then Pak PM Nawaz Sharif to bring the culprits to book. It was after the terror attack in Uri on September 18, 2016, that the NDA government ordered a surgical strike across LoC (on September 29, 2016 ). This strike ensured that Pakistan kept its terror groups under leash till 2019 when the Pulwama attack took place on February 14. The Indian response this time came in the form of IAF’s Mirage-2000 fighters launching a strike at JeM training camp at Balakot .

India’s response to Uri and Pulwama have signalled that New Delhi is prepared to respond to Islamabad in the language it understands. While Pakistan has yet again activated the Jammu sector with terror strikes since 2021, Islamabad today faces full fledged insurgencies in Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa apart from Taliban taking on the Pakistan Army on the border as it refuses to recognise Durand Line as the international border.

During Kargil, Pakistan used the Afghanistan issue to its advantage. Today, the tables have turned with the Taliban turning against Rawalpindi and the West running out of steam in the Af-Pak region.

(The author covered the Kargil war for Hindustan Times and has reported on Pakistan terror in Kashmir since 1994)

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BANKING PARTNER

Real estate partner, what is 1999 lahore declaration signed by nawaz sharif, atal bihari vajpayee how pakistan ‘violated’ it.

Curated By : News Desk

Edited By: Shilpy Bisht

Last Updated: May 29, 2024, 16:03 IST

New Delhi, India

The Lahore Declaration, signed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif on February 21, 1999, was a significant step to thaw the frosty ties between India and Pakistan. (Getty File Photo)

The Lahore agreement was signed in February 1999 by former PM Nawaz Sharif and Atal Bihari Vajpayee after the summit in the Pakistani city. Shortly after, the Pakistani Army infiltrated on Kargil. After two months of violent confrontation, the war came to an end on July 26, 1999

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has admitted that Pakistan violated the Lahore agreement that he and Atal Bihari Vajpayee signed in 1999, and indirectly referred to the Kargil misadventure by General Pervez Musharraf as his country’s “fault”.

In a meeting with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) general council, Sharif admitted, “On May 28, 1998, Pakistan carried out five nuclear tests. After that, [then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari] Vajpayee Saheb came here and made an agreement with us. But we violated that agreement…it was our fault.”

The Lahore Declaration, signed on February 21, 1999, was a significant step to thaw the frosty ties between India and Pakistan. The agreement was born out of the summit in Lahore. However, a few months later, Pakistani intrusion in the Kargil district in Jammu and Kashmir led to the Kargil War.

What Lahore Declaration Aimed At

The main objective of the Lahore Declaration was to promote peace and stability between India and Pakistan. “The Prime Ministers of the Republic of India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, sharing a vision of peace and stability between their countries, and of progress and prosperity for their peoples, convinced that durable peace and development of harmonious relations and friendly cooperation will serve the vital interests of the peoples of the two countries,” read the text of the declaration.

New Delhi and Islamabad also agreed to take immediate steps to reduce the risk of accidental or unauthorized use of nuclear weapons, and other confidence-building measures.

The agreement stressed on:

Resolution of Kashmir Issue : Both nations agreed to intensify their efforts to resolve all issues, including the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.

Terrorism : Both leaders reaffirmed their condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and expressed their determination to combat this menace.

Nuclear Weapons : India and Pakistan committed to taking immediate steps to reduce the risk of accidental or unauthorised use of nuclear weapons. The declaration emphasised the importance of mutually agreed confidence-building measures to improve the security environment. The two countries also reiterated their commitment towards nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

Focus on Dialogue : It was agreed to intensify the dialogue process for an early and positive outcome of the agreed bilateral agenda.

SAARC Goals : The declaration reaffirmed their commitment to the goals and objectives of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The aim was to promote the welfare of the people of South Asia and improve their quality of life through accelerated economic growth, social progress, and cultural development.

Protection of Human Rights : The declaration also committed both nations to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

How Pakistan Violated the Pact

Shortly after the Lahore Declaration was signed, Pakistan forces, led by Pervez Musharraf infiltrated on Kargil district in Jammu and Kashmir, and took over the Indian Army’s winter vacated posts, as part of Operation Badr. The plan was to cut the link between Kashmir and Ladakh to isolate the Indian Army on the Siachen Glacier, and force India to negotiate a settlement of the Kashmir dispute.

The Indian Airforce was sent to the winter-vacated posts to push back the intruders, who included members of the Pakistani Army. This was followed by Operation Vijay led by the Indian Army.

The war came to an end on July 26, 1999. It is the only instance of a conventional war fought between India and Pakistan — two nuclear armed countries.

The Kargil conflict resulted in significant military casualties and heightened tensions between India and Pakistan. The breach of the Lahore Declaration derailed the peace process and deepened the mistrust and hatred that has long cast a spell on the India-Pakistan relationship.

The Lahore Declaration of 1999 is a testament to a moment when India and Pakistan came close to forging a new path towards peace. While its violation led to conflict and mistrust, its objectives remain as relevant as ever. In fact, in 2017, then chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti, had asked for the Lahore pact to be revived.

What Else Did Sharif Say?

On the day Pakistan marked the 26th anniversary of its first nuclear tests, Sharif also mentioned that former US President Bill Clinton had offered $5 billion to Pakistan to stop it from carrying out the nuclear tests. “Had (former prime minister) Imran Khan-like person been in my seat he would have accepted Clinton’s offer,” he said.

Sharif said he was removed from the office of the prime minister in 2017 on a false case by Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar. He claimed all cases against him were false but all against Imran Khan were true.

He also alleged that the ISI had a role to play in bringing Imran Khan to power. He asked Khan to not blame them for being patronised by the army but to declare whether General Islam had any role in bringing his party to power. He also claimed that General Islam asked him to resign from the post of prime minister in 2014, but he refused. He said that the general then threatened to make an example out of him.

(With agency inputs)

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Catching the bus, recognising that the ride to pakistan doesn't need an american navigator.

E-Paper | September 16, 2024

Pakistan remembers vajpayee: ‘the indian pm who traveled to lahore by bus’.

Pakistani journalists and politicians on Thursday condoled the death of former Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee , and acknowledged his efforts for peace between the two countries.

Imran Khan, the prime minister-in-waiting, expressed "immense sadness at the loss of such a towering political figure from the subcontinent" and said that "he shares India's sorrow in their hour of grief".

The PTI chairman recognised the deceased's conciliatory efforts, adding: "A big gap has been left in South Asian politics with Vajpayee's death."

Journalist-turned-politician, Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed termed it "an irreparable loss" and said that "he was [an] icon of peace who had a Nixonian vision to reach out for building bridges with Pakistan; honoured to serve as a minister-in-waiting during his famous bus journey to Lahore in 1999".

BBC journalist Shafi Naqi Jamie acknowledged Vajpayee's efforts towards peace and tweeted: "He served three terms as PM and will be remembered for moves towards economic reform and his determination to pursue a peace process with neighbouring Pakistan."

Journalist and media consultant to Bilawal Bhutto, Omar Quraishi reminisced how well-liked the former premier had been in Pakistan, tweeting: "Despite being from the BJP, Atal Behari Vajpayee was quite a liked figure in Pakistan — not least because he himself came to Lahore on the Dosti Bus".

PML-N MNA Maiza Hameed also expressed sadness at Vajpayee's death, tweeting: "saddened by the death of a true statesman #AtalBehariVajpayee who served his country with distinction. One of the few men in the world whose experience was surpassed only by his genuine wisdom".

Well-known broadcast journalist Amir Mateen tweeted: "Atal Behari Vajpayee: death of a statesman. He was definitely one of the most towering PMs. And he definitely made an effort for India-Pakistan peace but we failed him. RIP"

Columnist and author Mehr Tarar extended her condolences to the family and all of India, recognising that he was "the Indian prime minister who travelled to Lahore in the Sada-e-Sarhad bus with a message of dosti, who wished India & Pakistan to move beyond the bloodied history, and be friends".

Senior journalist Shaheen Salahuddin also mourned the departure of the "great man", recognising that he "worked hard for peace between India and Pakistan".

PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry tweeted: "a legend has departed, his politics was controversial but his desire for peace was unifying".

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