The Lahore Declaration
The Lahore Declaration is a bilateral agreement and governance treaty between India and Pakistan. The treaty was signed by the then Prime Minister Navaz Sharif and Vajpayee on February 21, 1999, at the conclusion of a historic summit in Lahore, and ratified by the parliaments of both countries the same year
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday that trade with Pakistan should not be stopped and reviving the "Lahore Declaration" conceptualised by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the way forward for peace between the two countries.
The Lahore Declaration is a bilateral agreement and governance treaty between India and Pakistan. The treaty was signed by the then Prime Minister Navaz Sharif and Vajpayee on February 21, 1999, at the conclusion of a historic summit in Lahore, and ratified by the parliaments of both countries the same year.
The Lahore Declaration spells a joint vision of peace and stability between their countries, and of progress and prosperity for their peoples.
It says both nations are convinced that durable peace and development of harmonious relations and friendly cooperation will serve the vital interests of the peoples of the two countries, enabling them to devote their energies for a better future. It calls for recognising that the nuclear dimension of the security environment of the two countries adds to their responsibility for avoidance of conflict between the two countries.
The two swore that they were “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 Shimla Agreement in letter and spirit. They also expressed that both countries, “Committed to the objective of universal nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.”
The declaration recognises the earlier agreement of September 23, 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. They reaffirmed “their condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and their determination to combat this menace.”
