Lahore Declaration
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The Lahore Declaration was a historic declaration signed by the Indian Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee, and the Pakistan Prime Minister, Mr. Nawaz Sharif, in Lahore on February 21, 1999. The communique was a milestone in the Indo-Pak relations which had slowly deteriorated over the previous decade especially after the 1998 nuclear tests by both nations. Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee decided to break the ice and travelled to Lahore via bus passing through the Wagah border to normalise relations between the two countries. He was met by the then Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif and with the exception of islamic and hindu fundamentalists, the move was welcomed by everyone in Pakistan and India. The peace declaration was largely built upon the Shimla Accord, drafted in 1972, that stressed for a peaceful and bilateral resolution of all problems related to Kashmir. The event was marked with much fanfare and optimism about the future of the bilateral relations between the two neighbours.
Despite laying out the roadmap for resolution of disputes via peaceful means, the Kargil War would soon derail the very intent of this declaration. In the months following this historic resolution, Pakistan backed infiltrators entered Indian administered Kashmir by scaling the Kargil-Drass peaks. The mood shifted from optimism to jingoism in both the nations. The Indian government felt betrayed by this hostile attempt to spark a new crisis in Kashmir and responded with force eventually reclaiming the Kargil region. The bilateral relations between the two countries were again at an all time low due to the conflict and would take more time to revert back to normalcy. The Agra summit was the next direct high level meeting between the leaders of the two countries and it would take place only after 2 years on July 14, 2001.
