https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Delhi_AgreementDelhi Agreement - Revision history2026-07-31T12:46:54ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Delhi_Agreement&diff=288945&oldid=prev->AMomen88 at 23:53, 3 January 20222022-01-03T23:53:09Z<p></p>
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{{Infobox treaty<br />
| name =Delhi Agreement<br />
| long_name = Transfer of Population Under the Terms of the Delhi Agreement<br />
|<br />
| rep = <!-- [[File:Example.png|200px|alt=Example alt text]] OR: --><br />
| image =International border at Wagah - evening flag lowering ceremony.jpg<br />
| image_width =290px<br />
| image_alt = <!-- alt-text here for accessibility; see [[MOS:ACCESS]] --><br />
| caption =Flags of India and Pakistan being lowered at the Wagah Border in Punjab<br />
|<br />
| type =[[Population transfer]]<br />
| context =[[Cold war]]<br />
|<br />
| date_drafted =17 April 1973<br />
| date_signed ={{Start date and age|df=yes|1973|04|09}}<br />
| location_signed =New Delhi, India<br />
| date_sealed =19 September 1973<br />
| date_effective =8 August 1973 <br />
| condition_effective =Ratification by both parties<br />
| date_expiration ={{End date|df=yes|1974|08|28}}<br />
| date_expiry =1 July 1974<br />
| mediators =Interior ministries of [[Ministry of Home Affairs (India)|India]], [[Ministry of Interior (Pakistan)|Pakistan]] and [[Ministry of Home Affairs (Bangladesh)|Bangladesh]]<br />
| negotiators =Foreign ministries of [[Ministry of External Affairs (India)|India]], [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Pakistan)|Pakistan]] and [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Bangladesh)|Bangladesh]]<br />
| signatories =[[Swaran Singh]]<br />(<sub>[[Minister of External Affairs (India)|Minister of External Affairs]]</sub>)<br />[[Aziz Ahmed (civil servant)|Aziz Ahmed]]<br />(<sub>[[Foreign Minister of Pakistan]]</sub>)<br />[[Kamal Hossain]]<br />(<sub>[[Foreign Minister of Bangladesh]]</sub>)<br />
| parties ={{IND}}<br />{{PAK}}<br />{{BAN}}<br />
| ratifiers =Parliaments of [[Parliament of India|India]] and [[Parliament of Pakistan|Pakistan]]<br />
| depositor =[[Indira Gandhi]]<br /><sub>[[Prime Minister of India]]</sub><br />[[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]]<br /><sub>[[Prime Minister of Pakistan]]</sub><br />
| depositories =*[[Indian government|Government of India]]<br />
* [[Government of Pakistan]]<br />
|<br />
| language = <!-- OR: --><br />
| languages = English<br />
|<br />
| wikisource = <!-- OR: --><br />
| wikisource1 = <!-- Up to 5 wikisourceN variables may be specified --><br />
}}<br />
The '''Delhi Agreement''' was a [[wikt:trilateral|trilateral]] agreement signed between [[India]], [[Pakistan]] and [[Bangladesh]] on 28 August 1973; and ratified only by India and Pakistan.<ref name="American Journal of International Law">{{cite journal |last=Levie |first=Howard S. |date=January 1974 |title=The Indo-Pakistani Agreement of August 28, 1973 |journal=American Journal of International Law |publisher=American Society of International Law |volume=68 |issue=1 |pages=95–97 |doi=10.2307/2198806 |jstor=2198806}}</ref> It allowed the repatriation of [[prisoners of war]] and [[interned]] officials held in the three countries after the 1971 [[Bangladesh Liberation War]]. The agreement has been criticised for Pakistan's failure to repatriate [[Stranded Pakistanis|Urdu-speakers in Bangladesh]], not holding to account 195 senior military officials accused of breach of conduct during war and not making provision for a war crimes tribunal.<ref name="archive.thedailystar.net">{{cite news |last=Ahamed |first=Syeed |date=May 2010 |title=The Curious Case of the 195 War Criminals |url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/forum/2010/may/curious.htm |work=Forum |publisher=The Daily Star}}</ref><br />
<br />
The treaty was signed by the foreign ministers of [[Minister of External Affairs (India)|India]], [[Foreign Minister of Pakistan|Pakistan]] and [[Foreign Minister of Bangladesh|Bangladesh]] in New Delhi after the [[Simla Agreement]].<ref name="American Journal of International Law"/><br />
<br />
==Background==<br />
During the 1971 [[Bangladesh War]], thousands of Bengali bureaucrats and military personnel were [[interned]] in [[West Pakistan]] along with their families by the [[Pakistani Government]]. In Bangladesh, many in the Urdu-speaking community wished to relocate to Pakistan. [[India]] held several thousand Pakistani [[prisoners of war]] after the [[Surrender of Pakistan]] on 16 December 1971, including 195 military officers held for breach of conduct.<br />
<br />
[[President of Pakistan|President]] [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]] threatened to put interned Bengali officials on trial if Bangladesh proceeded with plans to indict alleged Pakistani war criminals.<ref>{{cite book |title=Facts on File Yearbook: 1973|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zOMCYRmzLloC |year=1973|publisher=Facts on File |page=525 |isbn=978-0-87196-032-0}}</ref><br />
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==Implementation==<br />
The treaty came into effect on 8 August 1973 and ended on 1 July 1974. Under the terms of the agreement, [[UNHCR]] supervised the repatriation of Bangladeshi and Pakistani citizens. According to the UN, 121,695 Bengalis were moved from Pakistan to Bangladesh. They included high-level Bengali civil servants and military officers. 108,744 non-Bengali civilians and civil servants were moved from Bangladesh to Pakistan.<ref name="UNCHR">{{cite web|last=UN|title=Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|url=http://www.unhcr.org/print/3ae68c6f0.html|work=UNCHR|publisher=UNCHR|access-date=16 February 2013}}</ref> India released 6,500 Pakistani PoWs, who were mostly transported by train to Pakistan.<ref name="genocidebangladesh.org">http://www.genocidebangladesh.org/text-of-the-tri-patriate-agreement-of-bangladesh-pakistan-india/</ref> In 1974, [[Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi|General Niazi]] was the last Pakistan officer symbolically repatriated through the Wagah Border.<ref name="UNCHR"/><br />
<br />
Although the agreement called for the repatriation of [[Urdu]]-speaking Biharis in Bangladesh, the Pakistani Government backtracked on its promise to resettle the community in Pakistan.<ref>{{cite book |title=Zulfi Bhutto of Pakistan:his life and times |author=Stanley Walpert |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1993 |isbn=9780195076615 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/zulfibhuttoofpak00wolp }}</ref> This gave rise to the stateless [[Stranded Pakistani]] community in Bangladesh.<br />
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==War crimes suspects==<br />
Among the PoWs, 195 Pakistani military officers held in India were identified as prime [[war crimes]] suspects. Pakistan pressed for their release as one of its key demands. It pressured several Muslim countries to withhold recognition of Bangladesh until the release of the 195 officers.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z8OeAwAAQBAJ&q=b+z+khasru+bangladesh+coup |title = The Bangladesh Military Coup and the CIA Link|isbn = 9788129134165|last1 = Khasru|first1 = B. Z.}}</ref> India favoured their repatriation to Pakistan. In the text of the agreement, the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, [[Kamal Hossain]], stated that:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>the excesses and manifold crimes committed by those prisoners of war constituted, according to the relevant provisions of the UN General Assembly resolutions and international law, [[war crime]]s, [[crimes against humanity]] and [[genocide]], and that there was universal consensus that persons charged with such crimes as 195 Pakistani prisoners of war should be held to account and subjected to the due process of law.<ref name="genocidebangladesh.org"/></blockquote><br />
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Pakistan evaded Bangladesh's request to hold the trial of war crimes suspects. However, [[Aziz Ahmed (civil servant)|Aziz Ahmed]], the Pakistani delegate at the Delhi meeting, stated that his government "deeply regretted any crimes that may have been committed".<ref name="genocidebangladesh.org"/><ref name="archive.thedailystar.net"/><br />
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==Legacy==<br />
The repatriation was an important milestone in t he establishment of [[Bangladesh–Pakistan relations|diplomatic relations]] in 1974. In Bangladesh, many repatriated officials rose to prominence. A notable example was [[Abdus Sattar (president)|Justice Abdus Sattar]], the [[List of Presidents of Bangladesh|9th]] [[President of Bangladesh]]. Many repatriated military personnel served in the leadership of the [[Bangladesh Armed Forces]], including Rear Admiral [[Mahbub Ali Khan]] and Lt General [[Muhammad Mahbubur Rahman]].<br />
<br />
Pakistan's refusal to repatriate stateless Urdu-speakers in Bangladesh as well as its refusal to try those accused of war crimes remains a major sore point in [[Bangladesh-Pakistan relations]].<br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
==Readings==<br />
* [http://www.genocidebangladesh.org/?p=196 Text of the tri-patriate agreement of Bangladesh-Pakistan-India]<br />
<br />
{{Bangladesh–Pakistan relations}}<br />
{{India-Pakistan relations}}<br />
{{Bangladesh Liberation War}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Diplomatic conferences in India]]<br />
[[Category:Bangladesh–India relations]]<br />
[[Category:Bangladesh–Pakistan relations]]<br />
[[Category:India–Pakistan relations]]<br />
[[Category:Treaties of Pakistan]]<br />
[[Category:Indira Gandhi administration]]<br />
[[Category:Government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]]<br />
[[Category:1973 in politics]]<br />
[[Category:1973 in India]]<br />
[[Category:1973 in Bangladesh]]<br />
[[Category:1973 in Pakistan]]<br />
[[Category:Treaties concluded in 1974]]<br />
[[Category:Treaties of India]]<br />
[[Category:Treaties of Bangladesh]]<br />
[[Category:Treaties entered into force in 1973]]<br />
[[Category:Forced migration]]<br />
[[Category:Deportation]]<br />
[[Category:1970s in Delhi]]<br />
[[Category:India–Pakistan treaties]]<br />
[[Category:1973 in international relations]]</div>->AMomen88