From the Treaty of Hudaibiyah to the Simla Agreement: who signed, when, where, and why it matters. Listed in date order; filter by Pakistan & South Asia, world wars, the Cold War and more.
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54 of 54 treaties and agreements
622
622 CE (1 AH) · Madinah
Between: The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), the Muslims of Makkah and Madinah, and the Jewish and other tribes of Madinah
Set out the rights and duties of all communities in Madinah as one political community; often called the first written constitution in history.
628
628 CE (6 AH) · Hudaibiyah, near Makkah
Between: The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the Quraysh of Makkah (represented by Suhail ibn Amr)
A ten-year truce that let Islam spread peacefully; the Quran calls it a 'clear victory' (Surah Al-Fath). The Quraysh broke it in 630, leading to the conquest of Makkah.
1494
7 June 1494 · Tordesillas, Spain
Between: Spain and Portugal
Divided newly discovered lands outside Europe between Spain and Portugal along a line in the Atlantic; this is why Brazil speaks Portuguese.
1648
1648 · Osnabrück and Münster
Between: The Holy Roman Empire, France, Sweden, Spain, the Dutch Republic and German states
Ended the Thirty Years' War; seen as the origin of the modern system of sovereign states (the 'Westphalian system').
1783
3 September 1783 · Paris
Between: Great Britain and the United States
Ended the American War of Independence; Britain recognized the independence of the United States.
1815
9 June 1815 · Vienna
Between: Austria, Britain, Prussia, Russia, France and other European states
Redrew Europe's map after Napoleon's defeat and created a 'balance of power' that kept major peace in Europe for decades.
1842
29 August 1842 · Nanjing
Between: Britain and Qing China
Ended the First Opium War; China ceded Hong Kong to Britain (returned in 1997). The first of China's 'unequal treaties'.
1846
16 March 1846 · Amritsar
Between: British East India Company and Gulab Singh (Dogra ruler of Jammu)
The British sold Kashmir to Gulab Singh for 7.5 million Nanakshahi rupees, creating the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir under Dogra rule.
1893
12 November 1893 · Kabul
Between: British India (Sir Mortimer Durand) and Afghanistan (Amir Abdur Rahman Khan)
Drew the roughly 2,600 km border between British India and Afghanistan, today the Pakistan–Afghanistan border; Afghanistan has never formally accepted it.
1916
December 1916 · Lucknow
Between: All-India Muslim League and Indian National Congress
Congress accepted separate electorates for Muslims; a high point of Hindu–Muslim unity in which Jinnah played a key role and was called the 'Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity'.
1916
May 1916 · Secret agreement
Between: Britain (Mark Sykes) and France (François Georges-Picot), with Russia's agreement
Secretly divided the Ottoman Empire's Arab lands into British and French zones, shaping the borders of today's Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
1917
2 November 1917 · London
Between: British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour, in a letter to Lord Rothschild
Britain declared support for 'a national home for the Jewish people' in Palestine; a root of the Arab–Israeli conflict.
1919
8 August 1919 · Rawalpindi
Between: British India and Afghanistan
Ended the Third Anglo-Afghan War; Britain recognized Afghanistan's control of its own foreign affairs (full independence). Afghanistan celebrates 19 August as Independence Day.
1919
28 June 1919 · Hall of Mirrors, Palace of Versailles, France
Between: Germany and the Allied Powers
Ended the First World War with Germany: Germany lost territory, was disarmed, paid reparations and accepted the 'war guilt' clause (Article 231). It also created the League of Nations; its harsh terms are seen as a cause of the Second World War.
1923
24 July 1923 · Lausanne, Switzerland
Between: Turkey and the Allied Powers
Replaced the Treaty of Sèvres (1920) and recognized the borders of the modern Republic of Turkey, founded later that year by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
1938
30 September 1938 · Munich
Between: Germany, Britain (Neville Chamberlain), France and Italy
Let Germany take the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia; the classic example of 'appeasement'. Chamberlain claimed 'peace for our time'.
1939
23 August 1939 · Moscow
Between: Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union
A non-aggression pact with a secret plan to divide Eastern Europe; a week later Germany invaded Poland, starting the Second World War.
1941
14 August 1941 · On warships off Newfoundland
Between: USA (Franklin D. Roosevelt) and Britain (Winston Churchill)
Set out shared goals for the post-war world, such as self-determination and no territorial gains; it inspired the United Nations.
1945
26 June 1945 (in force 24 October 1945) · San Francisco
Between: 50 founding countries (Poland signed later as the 51st)
Created the United Nations. It came into force on 24 October 1945, now celebrated as UN Day. Pakistan joined on 30 September 1947.
1949
27 July 1949 · Karachi
Between: Military representatives of Pakistan and India, under the UN Commission for India and Pakistan
Fixed the ceasefire line in Kashmir after the 1947–48 war, monitored by UN military observers (UNMOGIP).
1949
4 April 1949 · Washington, D.C.
Between: USA, Canada and ten Western European countries
Created NATO. Article 5 says an armed attack on one member is an attack on all; it has been used only once, after the 11 September 2001 attacks.
1950
8 April 1950 · New Delhi
Between: Pakistan (Liaquat Ali Khan) and India (Jawaharlal Nehru)
Both countries promised to protect the rights of religious minorities and to let refugees return, after communal violence in Bengal.
1954
19 May 1954 · Karachi
Between: Pakistan and the United States
Began large-scale US military aid to Pakistan and brought Pakistan into the Western camp in the Cold War.
1954
8 September 1954 · Manila
Between: USA, UK, France, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines and Thailand
Created the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization to contain communism; Pakistan was a member until it left in 1972–73. Dissolved in 1977.
1955
24 February 1955 · Baghdad
Between: Turkey and Iraq first; then Britain, Pakistan and Iran
A Western-backed defence alliance; renamed the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) after Iraq left in 1959, with its headquarters moved to Ankara. Dissolved in 1979.
1955
14 May 1955 · Warsaw
Between: The Soviet Union and seven Eastern European communist states
The communist bloc's answer to NATO; dissolved in 1991.
1957
25 March 1957 · Rome
Between: Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands
Created the European Economic Community (EEC), the forerunner of the European Union.
1959
1 December 1959 · Washington, D.C.
Between: Twelve countries, including the USA and USSR
Made Antarctica a continent for peace and science only, banning military activity and freezing territorial claims. Pakistan joined in 2012.
1960
19 September 1960 · Karachi
Between: Pakistan (Ayub Khan) and India (Jawaharlal Nehru), with the World Bank as broker and signatory
Gave the eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) to India and the western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) mostly to Pakistan. In April 2025 India announced it was holding the treaty 'in abeyance'; Pakistan said any stopping of its water would be an 'act of war'.
1963
2 March 1963 · Beijing
Between: Pakistan (Foreign Minister Z. A. Bhutto) and China (Foreign Minister Chen Yi)
Settled the border between Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan and China's Xinjiang, laying the foundation of the Pakistan–China friendship.
1963
5 August 1963 · Moscow
Between: USA, UK and USSR
Banned nuclear tests in the atmosphere, in outer space and under water, but not underground.
1966
10 January 1966 · Tashkent (USSR, now Uzbekistan)
Between: Pakistan (Ayub Khan) and India (Lal Bahadur Shastri), mediated by Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin
Ended the 1965 war: both sides withdrew to pre-war positions. Shastri died in Tashkent the next day; the deal was unpopular in Pakistan and Bhutto left Ayub's government soon after.
1967
27 January 1967 · London, Moscow and Washington
Between: Opened for signature by the USA, UK and USSR
Bans nuclear weapons in space and says no country can claim the Moon or other celestial bodies.
1968
1 July 1968 (in force 1970) · London, Moscow and Washington
Between: Open to all states; nearly every country has joined
Aims to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. Pakistan, India and Israel never joined; North Korea announced its withdrawal in 2003.
1972
2 July 1972 · Simla (Shimla), India
Between: Pakistan (Z. A. Bhutto) and India (Indira Gandhi)
Signed after the 1971 war: both agreed to settle disputes bilaterally and peacefully, the Kashmir ceasefire line became the Line of Control (LoC), and occupied territory was returned.
1973
28 August 1973 · New Delhi
Between: Pakistan and India (with Bangladesh's consent)
Arranged the return of about 90,000 Pakistani prisoners of war held by India after 1971, and the exchange of stranded populations.
1978
17 September 1978 · Camp David, USA
Between: Egypt (Anwar Sadat) and Israel (Menachem Begin), hosted by US President Jimmy Carter
Led to the 1979 Egypt–Israel peace treaty; Egypt became the first Arab state to recognize Israel and got back the Sinai. Sadat and Begin shared the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize.
1987
8 December 1987 · Washington, D.C.
Between: USA (Ronald Reagan) and USSR (Mikhail Gorbachev)
Eliminated all US and Soviet land-based missiles with ranges of 500–5,500 km; the US withdrew in 2019.
1987
16 September 1987 · Montreal
Between: Open to all states; the first UN treaty ratified by every country
Phased out chemicals (such as CFCs) that destroy the ozone layer; often called the most successful environmental treaty. 16 September is World Ozone Day.
1988
14 April 1988 · Geneva
Between: Pakistan and Afghanistan, with the USA and USSR as guarantors
Led to the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, completed in February 1989.
1992
7 February 1992 · Maastricht, Netherlands
Between: Twelve member states of the European Community
Created the European Union and set the path to a single currency, the euro.
1993
13 September 1993 · Signed in Washington, D.C.; negotiated in Oslo
Between: Israel (Yitzhak Rabin) and the PLO (Yasser Arafat)
Mutual recognition between Israel and the PLO, and creation of the Palestinian Authority with limited self-rule in Gaza and parts of the West Bank.
1995
21 November 1995 (initialled); 14 December 1995 (signed in Paris) · Dayton, Ohio, USA
Between: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia (FR Yugoslavia) and Croatia
Ended the Bosnian War, which included the Srebrenica massacre of about 8,000 Bosniak Muslims in July 1995.
1996
24 September 1996 (opened for signature) · New York
Between: Open to all states
Bans all nuclear explosions, but has not entered into force because key states have not ratified it. Pakistan and India have not signed it.
1997
11 December 1997 (in force 2005) · Kyoto, Japan
Between: Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
Set binding greenhouse-gas cuts for developed countries; replaced in practice by the Paris Agreement.
1998
10 April 1998 · Belfast
Between: British and Irish governments and Northern Ireland's political parties
Ended most of the violence of 'the Troubles' in Northern Ireland and set up power-sharing government.
1998
17 July 1998 (in force 2002) · Rome
Between: Open to all states
Created the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague to try genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and aggression. Pakistan, India, the USA and China are not members.
1999
21 February 1999 · Lahore
Between: Pakistan (Nawaz Sharif) and India (Atal Bihari Vajpayee)
First major agreement after both countries' 1998 nuclear tests: pledged to reduce the risk of nuclear conflict. Vajpayee came by bus to Wagah ('bus diplomacy'); the Kargil conflict followed months later.
2015
14 July 2015 · Vienna
Between: Iran and the P5+1 (USA, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany) with the EU
Iran limited its nuclear programme in return for lifting of sanctions; the US withdrew in May 2018.
2015
12 December 2015 (COP21) · Paris
Between: Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
Aims to keep global warming well below 2°C, and to try for 1.5°C, above pre-industrial levels; each country sets its own targets (NDCs).
2019
24 October 2019 · Zero Point, Kartarpur border
Between: Pakistan and India
Allowed Indian Sikh pilgrims visa-free access to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur (Narowal), where Guru Nanak spent his last years.
2020
29 February 2020 · Doha, Qatar
Between: United States and the Afghan Taliban
The US agreed to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan; the withdrawal ended in August 2021 as the Taliban took Kabul. Pakistan helped bring the Taliban to the talks.
2020
15 September 2020 · White House, Washington, D.C.
Between: Israel, the UAE and Bahrain, brokered by the USA (later joined by Morocco and Sudan)
The UAE and Bahrain established diplomatic relations with Israel, the first Arab states to do so since Jordan in 1994.
2025
17 September 2025 · Riyadh
Between: Pakistan (PM Shehbaz Sharif) and Saudi Arabia (Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman)
States that aggression against either country will be treated as aggression against both.