History of failed agreements: Why Shimla is no longer a ‘summit’ destination

It was the last week of June 1972. Shimla had turned out in full strength to catch a glimpse of the daughter of visiting Pakistan president Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was in India for negotiations with prime minister Indira Gandhi. The 19-year-old Benazir Bhutto was the cynosure of all eyes. The casually dressed teenager took leisurely strolls on Mall Road, visited local shops and even attended a special screening of the Meena Kumari-Ashok Kumar starrer Pakeezah at the Ritz theatre. At the Convent of Jesus and Mary school in the city, she met some of her old teachers, who had moved from Pakistan to India.

While Benazir enjoyed her stay from June 28 to July 3, Bhutto and Indira were involved in intense negotiations over the release of 90,000 Pakistani prisoners of war and also about critical issues plaguing bilateral ties. The air in Shimla was triumphalist as India had defeated Pakistan a few months earlier. The entire world was waiting to see how the two neighbours would behave. Hordes of journalists from across the world were in Shimla to cover the talks.

“It was peak tourist season in Shimla. When Benazir was out on Mall Road, people gathered in huge numbers to watch her,” said Prakash Chand Lohumi, 76, a journalist assigned to cover Benazir. “She visited local shops, and during one of her trips, Indira accompanied her. Benazir did not buy anything, but we heard that the things she liked were gifted to her. One of the newspapers even ran a headline ‘Peerless, penniless’ as the word benazir meant peerless.”

Benazir, who was to become the first woman prime minister in a Muslim country 16 years later, dressed up in smart casuals during her outings in Shimla, but wore a sari for an official picture with her father and Indira. The pictures now adorn the walls of the summit hall at the Barnes Court, now the official residence of the Himachal Pradesh governor, where the Simla Agreement (Shimla was earlier spelt Simla) was signed. The historic building, which was built in 1832, was used as a state guest house till 1981, when the Raj Bhavan was shifted there. The visiting Bhuttos stayed there during the summit. Earlier, it served as the summer residence of British commanders-in-chief like Generals Sir Charles James Napier, Sir William Maynard Gomm, George Anson, Sir Colin Campbell and Sir Hugh Rose. “It was here that the news of the Great Uprising of 1857 was given to General Anson,” says the Raj Bhavan website.

Indira stayed at the Retreat Building, which now serves as the summer home of the president of India. She had been the perfect host and even picked up curtains and tablecloth for Barnes Court before the Bhuttos arrived. “Bhutto and other officials used to hold their meetings on the lawns, fearing that the rooms were bugged,” said Raja Bhasin, a Shimla-based historian. “Indira had arrived a day in advance to personally inspect the arrangements. She waited for six hours at the Annadale helipad for the Bhuttos to arrive.”

For Lohumi, the intriguing part of the summit was the three hours before the agreement was signed. “At 8pm on July 2, Bhutto held a press conference, saying that the talks had failed. After that, the media delegations left. At around 11pm, as I prepared to leave, a fellow journalist told me to wait as something was going to happen. Then everyone was called to Barnes Court.” Lohumi remembered that nobody at Barnes Court was prepared for the twist. “When Indira came, there was not even a tablecloth. A curtain was hurriedly taken down and put on the table. The Doordarshan reporter had gone home. He was my senior, so I gave the officials his address,” said Lohumi. When the reporter finally returned, P.N. Haksar, who was principal secretary to the prime minister, told him that he made Indira wait for an hour. Even a pen to sign the agreement had to be borrowed from a journalist.

While the official date of signing is recorded as July 2, 1972, Lohumi said it was already 12.40am on July 3 when the actual signing happened. “Not much has been spoken or written about what pressures worked as India agreed to all demands by Pakistan,” said Lohumi.

While India had the advantage of having 90,000 POWs in its custody to make Pakistan agree to a final settlement on Kashmir, Bhutto got away with just a verbal assurance, which Pakistan violated repeatedly, later on. The term ‘spirit of Simla Agreement’ is still used in diplomatic parlance to remind Pakistan to observe peace at the borders.

Many people thought the agreement was skewed in Pakistan’s favour. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was then a senior leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, travelled to Shimla to hold a rally to put pressure on Indira to not accede to Pakistan’s demands. “He was not allowed to hold a rally, so he held a press conference,” said Lohumi. The Jana Sangh also held protests when Indira returned to Delhi.

The Congress had swept the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections in 1972. “Had the elections been held after the agreement, the situation could have been different as India did not get a good deal,” said Lohumi.

While Shimla had enjoyed a preeminent place in India’s political history, primarily before independence, it subsequently faded as a destination for political parleys. Moreover, many of the key agreements which were concluded here have not been really good for India. The finalising of the Radcliffe line demarcating the border with Pakistan, the 1914 accord to determine India-Tibet boundaries, the 1945 meeting between viceroy Lord Wavell and Indian leaders to approve self-government and separate representation for Muslims and the India-Pakistan accord of 1972 did not really advance Indian interests. “All such meetings either failed to serve their purpose or went against India,” said Lohumi. “In such matters, Shimla has a poor record.”