India has repeatedly said it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday expressed his desire to normalise the relationship with India, asserting Islamabad wants to resolve all issues, including Kashmir, with New Delhi through talks.
Sharif, while addressing a special session of the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) Legislative Assembly in Muzaffarabad on the occasion of the “Kashmir Solidarity Day”, an annual Pakistani event, reiterated his support for the Kashmiri people.
“We want all issues, including Kashmir, to be resolved through talks. India should come out of the thinking of August 5, 2019, and fulfil promises made to the UN and launch a dialogue,” he said, referring to the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution that revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories.
Only way forward for Pakistan and India is a dialogue: Sharif
Prime Minister Sharif said that the only way forward for Pakistan and India was a dialogue, as already written in the Lahore Declaration of 1999, which was agreed upon when then-prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Pakistan.
What is India’s stand?
India has repeatedly told Pakistan that the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh “was, is and shall forever” remain an integral part of the country. The ties between the two countries nosedived after India abrogated Article 370. India cleared its stand by saying that normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan is possible only in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence.
Sharif also accused India of amassing weapons, saying that the accumulation of arms would not bring peace or change the fate of the people of this region. He urged India to be wise, saying the way to progress was peace.
(With PTI inputs)
