Protesters block key Pakistan-China trade route over power outages in Gilgit-Baltistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said on Thursday that Islamabad’s Simla Agreement with New Delhi, which formalized the de facto border separating the disputed Kashmir territory with its neighbor, “has no worth” after the recent standoff between them.

India and Pakistan signed the Simla Agreement in 1972 after the 1971 war between the two countries, which New Delhi won and led to the creation of Bangladesh. One of its main clauses was that India and Pakistan both agreed to bilaterally discuss and resolve the issue of the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir.

Another clause of the agreement was that both countries renamed the Ceasefire Line, the de facto border separating Pakistan-administered Kashmir from the one governed by India, to the “Line of Control” (LoC). Both India and Pakistan agreed not to change it unilaterally.

After India suspended a decades-old water-sharing treaty with Pakistan following an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir in April, Pakistan announced a raft of tit-for-tat measures against Delhi. Islamabad said it had the right to hold all bilateral agreements with India, including the Simla Agreement, in abeyance.

“Because of India’s steps I think the sanctity of the Simla Agreement has ended,” Asif told Geo News. “All the status before the Simla Agreement, that we will resolve problems bilaterally, all of its provisions, is not applicable.

That agreement as a whole, I think after this war and episode, has no worth or value,” he added.

He reiterated Pakistan’s position that India’s move to hold the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance was illegal as the terms dictated that neither of the two parties can alter its status unilaterally.

Signed in 1960, the treaty allocates the six Indus Basin rivers between India and Pakistan, with the World Bank acting as its guarantor.

Pakistan has rights to the western rivers — Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab — for irrigation, drinking, and non-consumptive uses like hydropower. India controls the eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej — for unrestricted use but must not significantly alter their flow.

India can use the western rivers for limited purposes such as power generation and irrigation, without storing or diverting large volumes

Asif said neither the World Bank nor any other institution had any “interference or patronage” in the Simla Agreement when it was signed in 1972.

“So then, the Control Line will once again shift to its original status of Ceasefire Line,” the minister said.

While the fragile ceasefire between India and Pakistan announced on May 10 by US President Donald Trump -persists, tensions remain high as delegations by both nuclear-armed neighbors head to world capitals and blame each other for the May conflict.

Kashmir has always remained the root cause of conflict between India and Pakistan. The two countries claim the region in full but administer only parts of it. They have fought two out of three wars since 1947 over the territory.

Delhi blames Islamabad for fomenting militancy in the part of Kashmir it administers. Pakistan denies the allegations and says it only extends diplomatic support to the people of Kashmir it says are living under “occupation.”

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani pilgrims on Thursday vowed to pray for Palestinians and the wider Muslim world as they joined over a million fellow worshippers in Arafat on one of the most sacred days in Islam to seek forgiveness.

The Day of Arafat, observed on the 9th of Dhu Al-Hijjah, the final month of the Islamic calendar, marks the spiritual peak of the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Its central ritual, Wuquf, involves standing in devotion from noon until sunset near Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) delivered his farewell sermon.

After sunset, pilgrims travel to Muzdalifah, located between Arafat and Mina, to collect pebbles for the symbolic “stoning of the devil” ritual performed the following day.

“It is a big day for the Muslims around the world and those who are present here,” Pakistan’s Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousaf said while speaking to media from Mount Arafat.

“I urge Pakistani pilgrims that along with praying for their own families, they should also pray for the country, Muslim Ummah, especially people of Gaza, Palestine and Kashmir,” he added.

Malik Aslam, a Pakistani pilgrim from Gujar Khan, a city in Rawalpindi District, said the situation in Gaza was deeply disturbing and that he would pray for Palestinians.

“All pilgrims should pray for all the Muslims, especially those in Palestine,” he told Arab News. “Pilgrims should pray for the success of Muslims in all fields.”

“I am also praying for my parents and all those who left this world,” he added.

Expressing his feelings from Mount Arafat, Muhammad Usman, another pilgrim from Gujrat district in Punjab, said he was thankful to God for blessing him with the opportunity to perform Hajj.

“Today, I am reflecting on my entire life and praying that Allah grant me a better, righteous life ahead,” he told Arab News, saying he would begin a new chapter of life after Hajj.

“I hope to leave here with all my known and unknown sins forgiven,” he added.

Muhammad Abdullah, from Mardan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said his day was going well, as the weather was not too hot.

“I will pray for the whole Ummah, following example of our Holy Prophet [PBUH],” he added.

Speaking about the arrangements, Samad Wazir, a pilgrim from the northwestern Waziristan tribal district, expressed satisfaction with the facilities provided by both the Pakistani Hajj mission and Saudi authorities, hoping the same standard would continue in the coming days.

“It is very well arranged and there has been no problem at all in the tents and other places,” he said, adding that everyone had their own folding beds and received meals on time in the tents.

“Even on the buses, the arrangements were smooth, as everyone boarded in turn with the help of Hajj volunteers, who also guided us all the way to our tents,” he added.

Munir Ahmed Bhatti, a pilgrim from Gujranwala city, also praised the Pakistani mission for the arrangements in Mina and Arafat.

“We gathered for Hajj and this time the government of Pakistan has done very good arrangements and we are satisfied,” he said, adding that pilgrims got good residences, food and transportation.

Over 117,000 Pakistani pilgrims are currently in Saudi Arabia for Hajj 2025.