Лахорская декларация: Индо-пакистанский договор о контроле над ядерным оружием 1999 года.

1999 bilateral agreement and governance treaty between India and Pakistan

The Lahore Declaration was a bilateral agreement and governance treaty between India and Pakistan. The treaty was signed on 21 February 1999, at the conclusion of a historic summit in Lahore, and ratified by the parliaments of both countries the same year. Under the terms of the treaty, a mutual understanding was reached towards the development of atomic arsenals and to avoid accidental and unauthorised operational use of nuclear weapons. The Lahore Declaration brought added responsibility to both nations' leadership towards avoiding nuclear race, as well as both non conventional and conventional conflicts. This event was significant in the history of Pakistan and it provided both countries an environment of mutual confidence. In a much covered televised press conference in both countries, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee signed the treaty. It was the second nuclear control treaty signed by both countries and pledged to continue the use of the first treaty, NNAA, was signed in 1988. The Lahore treaty was quickly ratified by the parliaments of India and Pakistan and came into force the same year. The Lahore Declaration signalled a major breakthrough in overcoming the historically strained bilateral relations between the two nations in the aftermath of the publicly performed atomic tests carried out by both nations in May 1998. Widely popular in the public circles in Pakistan and hailed by the international community, the relations would very soon lose impetus after infiltration of Pakistan forces into Kargil, which led to the outbreak of the 1999 Indo Pakistan War in May 1999.

The Lahore treaty was one of the most important and historical treaties of India and Pakistan to normalise the relations to ease up the military tensions in South Asia. In 1972, the Simla Treaty was acceded to establish peaceful relations in the aftermath of the war in 1971 and committed both nations to resolving bilateral disputes by peaceful dialogue and co operation. In 1978, Pakistan made a proposal to limit the nuclear race between two countries and to establish South Asia Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (SANWFZ), for which negotiations were never concluded. In 1988, Pakistan and India reached an important understanding towards controlling the nuclear weapons, and signed the NNAA treaty. Despite many proposals, the nuclear race continued and the cold war had been heightened over the issue of Kashmir. The domestic pressure and the increasingly political momentum made India conduct nuclear tests (see: Operation Shakti) in May 1998, in spite of international pressure. Responding to India's test, Pakistan equalised the nuclear magnitude in South Asia after performing its own series of atomic tests, (see: Chagai I), all at the end of the month of May 1998. The tests invited condemnation and economic sanctions on both countries and many in the international community fear that in wake of intensified conflict, it could lead to a nuclear war.

In 1998, the Foreign ministries of both countries had been initiating peace process to ease up the tension in the region. On 23 September 1998 both governments signed an agreement recognising the principle of building an environment of peace and security and resolving all bilateral conflicts, which became the basis of the Lahore Declaration. Before the arrival of Indian Prime Minister, a warm welcome awaited Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee when he arrived at Wagah by the inaugural bus service between New Delhi and Lahore. He was received by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the units of Pakistan Army gave the Indian Prime minister a guard of honour. He was received amidst great fanfare and media attention at the Pakistani border post of Wagah by Pakistan Prime minister Nawaz Sharif, with whom he had been at loggerheads a year before over the nuclear tests controversy. The summit was hailed worldwide as a major breakthrough and milestone in bilateral relations and a historic step towards ending conflict and tensions in the region. After the two Prime ministers signed the agreement, the foreign secretaries of Pakistan Shamshad Ahmad and India K. Raghunath signed an MoU on 21 February 1999, identifying measures aimed at promoting an environment of peace and security between the two countries. In its content, both governments asserted their commitment to the vision of peace, stability and mutual progress and their full commitment to the Simla Agreement and the UN Charter. Both governments recognised through the Lahore Declaration that the development of nuclear weapons brought added responsibility to both nations towards avoiding conflict and promoted the importance of Confidence building measures, especially to avoid accidental and unauthorised use of nuclear weapons. Commits both to the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations, and the universally accepted principles of peaceful co existence. The news channels, television outlets, and print media widely hailed this move by the Government of Nawaz Sharif to normalise relations with India. Except JI, the far right party was critical of this treaty; all major political forces in Pakistan, including PPP, hailed and congratulated Nawaz Sharif for successfully reaching the Lahore treaty. The reception for Vajpayee, described as the leader of an "enemy combatant nation," was boycotted by the chiefs of Pakistan military, and those included the Chairman joint chiefs and army chief General Pervez Musharaff, air chief ACM PQ Mehdi and naval chief Admiral Fasih Bokhari.

The Lahore Declaration was hailed warmly in India and in the global media and by governments of other nations, forging optimism after the global tensions over the 1998 nuclear tests. the Indian Army was deployed to evict the Pakistan army soldiers and re capture the disputed territory. The two month long conflict claimed the lives of hundreds of soldiers on both sides and brought both nations close to full scale war and possible nuclear conflict. After this conflict, the "Lahore Treaty" was stalled and no further discussions took place between the two countries on promoting the dialogue and CBMs initiated at Lahore in February 1999. The conflict was followed by an Atlantique incident in which the Indian Air Force intercepted and shot down the Pakistan Navy's reconnaissance aircraft; a total of eleven naval personnel were killed. After months of contentious relations with the military and judiciary, a military coup d'état was staged by Pakistan Armed Forces that overthrew the Government of Nawaz Sharif and brought the chairman joint chiefs General Pervez Musharraf, believed to be responsible for the Kargil incursion, to power, thus exacerbating doubts over the future of the relations between the two nations. Despite many political difficulties, India reiterated the necessity of implementing the Simla and Lahore treaties and said India would support the Simla Agreement, Lahore Declaration, and the issue of cross border terrorism.