ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto said here today [March 10] Pakistan wanted to pursue the Kashmir issue on the basis of the Simla Agreement under which India was legally bound to discuss the future of the state with Pakistan. The Prime Minis­ter told a ... Press conference that he had written to the Indian Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi, protesting against her recent agreement with Sheikh Abdullah in Kashmir and explaining to her that … the Simla accord, under which both Pakistan and India had agreed not to alter the situation in Kashmir unilaterally, provided a framework for its settlement which envisaged negotiations between the two countries.

However, he said his Government retained its option to return to the [UN] with the Kashmir dispute if it is found to be .... worthwhile. In the first place, he added, Pakistan had never excluded this option even under the Simla Agreement. Secondly, now when India had violated the Simla Agreement it had been made more relevant for Pakistan to return to the world organisation. ... [Agencies add,] the Indira-Abdullah deal, he pointed out, was a negation of the July 1972 Simla Agreement. — Correspondent

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2025