Indira Gandhi negotiated land deal with Pakistan after '71 war: Asif Ali Zardari

Former Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has claimed that India's former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi negotiated a land deal with Islamabad after the 1971 war.

"We must also realize how Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto took back the land after 1971 war... The Pakistan Peoples Party was formed for the cause of Kashmir. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, after negotiations, took back the land from (former Indian Prime Minister) Indira Gandhi," Dawn quoted Zardari as saying in the joint session of Pakistan Parliament over the Kashmir issue on Wednesday.

Indira Gandhi met the then Pakistan President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in Shimla after East Pakistan gained independence to become Bangladesh. During the summit, Simla Accord was signed and India released all Prisoner of War (PoWs).

The Pakistan People Party (PPP) leader also contended that India's decision to scrap special status for Jammu and Kashmir was "as serious as the East Pakistan tragedy".

"The Kashmir issue is the second major incident after the separation of East Pakistan," Zardari said.

Attacking the Imran Khan-led government, the former president said: "Do you think India doesn't know that a tailor-made democracy is in place in Pakistan? Do they not know about the economic situation here?"

Earlier this week, the Indian Parliament adopted a resolution to scrap Article 370 which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. It also passed a bill that bifurcates Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories - Jammu and Kashmir with legislature and Ladakh without legislature.

( With inputs from ANI )