Since Uzbekistan was actively developing friendly ties with India since the first half of the 1950s, Sharaf Rashidov always was at the epicentre of these relations, first as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of Uzbekistan (1950-1959) and then as first secretary of the Central Committee of the CP of Uzbekistan (1959-1983). Therefore, when in the mid-1960s, India had a serious conflict with its neighbour Pakistan. Sharaf Rashidov was sent to settle this conflict.
India and Pakistan had long had territorial claims to each other about Kashmir. As a result, in early August 1965, both countries entered into an armed conflict. It began on 5 August, when Pakistani soldiers crossed the so-called line of control in the Kashmir region. From that moment, the fighting began, which escalated into a full-scale war. As a result, more tactically prepared and armed with new tanks, the Pakistani troops delivered surprise attacks and won significant victories on 1-2 September. On 3 September, the offensive was resumed, but India had already moved its forces closer and managed to restrain it, continuing to concentrate people and means for an effective counter-offensive.
IT WAS AT THAT TIME THAT SHARAF RASHIDOV WAS SUMMONED TO MOSCOW, WHICH IS CONFIRMED BY THE WORKING DIARY OF THE GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE CPSU CENTRAL COMMITTEE L. BREZHNEV. ON 3 SEPTEMBER, THE GENERAL SECRETARY MET WITH RASHIDOV IN HIS OFFICE AND INSTRUCTED HIM TO ENGAGE IN NEGOTIATIONS WITH INDIA AND PAKISTAN IN ORDER TO RESOLVE THIS CONFLICT.
On 23 September, a long-awaited truce was signed between India and Pakistan. Moreover, both sides accepted the USSR's offer to enter into negotiations with each other and try to resolve the conflict. And the venue chosen for these negotiations was Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, which Sharaf Rashidov had long turned into the Capital of Friendship. However, Rashidov himself was not present when the famous Tashkent Declaration was signed. After N. Khrushchev was removed from power in October 1964, the Soviet country was governed by a duumvirate – a system where two persons manage a state. It consisted of the First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Alexei Kosygin. It was Kosygin who was to head the Tashkent negotiations. At that time, Sharaf Rashidov was sent to Algeria as head of a delegation from the party and government.
ON 29 DECEMBER, RASHIDOV ARRIVED IN MOSCOW AGAIN TO HAVE ANOTHER MEETING WITH BREZHNEV AND LISTEN TO HIS RECOMMENDATIONS BEFORE FLYING TO ALGERIA. AND WHILE THE UZBEK LEADER WAS AWAY FROM HIS HOMELAND, THE NEGOTIATIONS WERE HELD IN TASHKENT BETWEEN A. KOSYGIN AND TWO PRIME MINISTERS - LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI (INDIA) AND MUHAMMAD AYUB KHAN (PAKISTAN).
On 10 January 1966, the Tashkent Declaration was signed, and all the success was attributed to Moscow and Alexey Kosygin personally. This story clearly demonstrates that although Moscow valued Sharaf Rashidov's professional talent as a diplomat, he was afraid of making him too influential in international politics. The American researcher Gregory Gleason rightly noted: "Perhaps Sharaf Rashidov's most important influence was not on the domestic arena, but on the foreign one, as he was the second most important figure in Soviet foreign policy.
A few hours after signing the declaration, while still in Tashkent, Lal Bahadur Shastri suddenly died of a heart attack. The Prime Minister was very worried about signing the declaration, as others did not support him. The only person who could support him at that time was Sharaf Rashidov, with whom Shastri had a warm, almost friendly relationship. Since the early 1950s, when Shastri headed the lower chamber of the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha), and Rashidov was the head of the Supreme Council of Uzbekistan, they periodically met on parliamentary affairs.
IF RASHIDOV HAD BEEN NEXT TO SHASTRI IN JANUARY 1966, MOST PROBABLY, THE INDIAN PRIME MINISTER WOULD NOT HAVE HAD THAT ILL-FATED HEART ATTACK.
A few years after the tragedy, Rashidov would pay tribute to his Indian colleague and friend and obtain permission from Moscow to open a monument in Tashkent in honour of Lal Bahadur Shastri, which was designed by the famous sculptor Yakov Shapiro.
