Foreign Policy, Treaties & Agreements: 22 MCQs with Explanations

The Indus Waters Treaty was signed on 19 September 1960 in Karachi between Pakistan and India, mediated by the World Bank. It allocated the three eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) to India and the three western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) to Pakistan.

Operation Gibraltar was a military operation launched by Pakistan in August 1965 to infiltrate forces into Jammu and Kashmir to precipitate an insurgency against Indian rule, which eventually led to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.

The Tashkent Declaration was signed on 10 January 1966 between President Ayub Khan of Pakistan and Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri of India in Tashkent (Uzbekistan, USSR) to resolve the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.

The Shimla Agreement of 1972 converted the ceasefire line established after the 1948 war into the Line of Control (LOC), which remains the de facto border between Indian and Pakistani administered Kashmir.

The Islamabad Declaration was signed during the Second Islamic Summit Conference held in Lahore (not Islamabad) in February 1974, where Pakistan successfully hosted leaders of Muslim countries.

The Kargil Conflict (also known as the Kargil War) took place between May and July 1999 in the Kargil district of Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control.

Pakistan was granted full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) at the Astana Summit in June 2017, along with India.

Pakistan purchased Gwadar from Oman on 8 September 1958 for $3 million. The port was formally transferred to Pakistan on 8 December 1958.

The Kartarpur Corridor agreement was signed on 24 October 2019 between Pakistan and India to allow visa-free access to Sikh pilgrims from India to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan.

The JCPOA, commonly known as the Iran Nuclear Deal, is an agreement on the Iranian nuclear program reached in Vienna on 14 July 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 (China, France, Russia, UK, US, and Germany) plus the EU.

The Sino-Pakistan Agreement (Pakistan-China Boundary Agreement) was signed on 2 March 1963, establishing the border between Pakistan and China in the Kashmir region.

The Agra Summit was held between 14-16 July 2001 between President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of India. The summit failed to produce a joint declaration due to disagreements over Kashmir.

The Oslo Accords were a pair of interim agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) signed in 1993 and 1995, aimed at establishing a framework for Palestinian self-governance.

The Geneva Accords on Afghanistan were signed on 14 April 1988 between Pakistan and Afghanistan, with the USSR and USA as guarantors, leading to the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan.

The Tehran Declaration was signed on 17 May 2010 between Iran, Turkey, and Brazil regarding Iran's nuclear program, with Pakistan supporting the diplomatic initiative.

The Murree Declaration was signed on 5 March 2007 between President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan to enhance bilateral cooperation against terrorism and extremism.

The Islamabad Accord was signed on 7 March 1993 between various Afghan mujahideen factions to form a coalition government under Burhanuddin Rabbani with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar as Prime Minister.

The Islamabad Declaration was signed during the 12th SAARC Summit held in Islamabad on 4-6 January 2004, focusing on regional cooperation and economic integration.

The Islamabad Declaration on countering terrorism was adopted during the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process ministerial conference held in Islamabad on 8 December 2016.

The Beijing Declaration on Palestine was adopted in July 2017 during talks between Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas mediated by China, with Pakistan supporting the Palestinian cause.

The Islamabad Resolution was adopted during the Ninth Islamic Summit Conference held in Doha (not Islamabad) in November 2000, though Pakistan has hosted several OIC summits.

The Islamabad Declaration on refugees was adopted during the International Conference on 40 Years of Hosting Refugees held in Islamabad on 24-25 February 2019.