Two men in a room: 25 years of Agra Summit, and what lies ahead for India, Pakistan

16 min readNew DelhiJul 18, 2026 07:17 AM IST

First published on: Jul 18, 2026 at 07:17 AM IST

The Indian Express’s coverage of the Agra Summit that was held between July 14 and 16.

“Ab aage kya karna chahiye (What should we do next)?” On May 23, 2001, at one of their periodic lunches, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee asked the question of his Home Minister L K Advani and External Affairs and Defence Minister Jaswant Singh.

The question was in reference to Pakistan. It had been two years since the Kargil War and the main instigator, General Pervez Musharraf, was in power in Pakistan.