Days after former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif admitted that Islamabad had violated the Lahore pact, India acknowledged on May 30 that an objective view on the matter is emerging in Pakistan.
During a recent meeting of the PML-N general council, Sharif said that Islamabad had “violated” an agreement with India, which he had signed with former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999. This comment was a reference to the Kargil misadventure by General Pervez Musharraf.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, when asked about Sharif’s comments during a weekly media briefing, said, “You are aware of our position on the issue. I need not reiterate that. We note that there is an objective view emerging in Pakistan as well on this matter.”
After a historic summit in Lahore, then-Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee and Mr. Sharif signed the Lahore Declaration on February 21, 1999. The agreement, which envisioned peace and stability between the two neighboring countries, signaled a breakthrough. However, a few months later, Pakistani intrusion in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kargil district led to the Kargil conflict.
Sharif stated, “On May 28, 1998, Pakistan carried out five nuclear tests. After that, Vajpayee saheb came here and made an agreement with us. But we violated that agreement…. It was our fault.”
The Ministry of External Affairs’ acknowledgment of an emerging objective view in Pakistan regarding the Lahore pact violation reflects a potential shift in the narrative within Pakistan on this historical issue.
