Pakistan PM makes conditional talks offer to India
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PAKISTANI Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has made a conditional offer to his Indian counterpart to open talks on all outstanding issues between them, including the disputed Kashmir region.
“My message to the Indian leadership and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is: Let’s sit down at the table and have serious and sincere talks to resolve our burning issues, like Kashmir,” Sharif said on Tuesday (Jan 17).
However, a statement issued by the premier’s office after his comments added that such talks would be possible only if India restored the autonomous status in the part of Kashmir that it rules. That status was revoked in 2019.
“Without India’s revocation of this step, negotiations are not possible,” the statement said.
New Delhi has ignored such calls from Pakistan on Kashmir’s status in the past. The Indian foreign affairs ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sharif said he had taken up the issue with United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, on his recent visit to the Emirates.
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“He’s a brother of Pakistan. He also has good relations with India. He can play a very important role to bring the two countries to the talking table,” he added.
The two nuclear powers have fought three wars since independence from British rule in 1947. Two of the wars were over Kashmir, a disputed Himalayan region, which both the nations claim. Each controls half of it now.
The two neighbours came close to war again in 2019, when India launched an air strike inside Pakistan, to target what New Delhi said was a militant training facility.
Tensions were again inflamed later in the year, when India unilaterally revoked the autonomous status of its part of Kashmir. Sharif said this resulted in “flagrant” human rights violations.
India has faced a decades-long insurgency in its part of Kashmir, which it accuses Pakistan of stoking – an accusation Islamabad denies.
Official talks between the two countries have been suspended since then, although there have been some backdoor diplomacy attempts to resume negotiations. One such attempt was brokered by the UAE in 2021.
Sharif said the wars between the two countries brought nothing but misery, poverty and unemployment.
“We want to alleviate poverty, achieve prosperity and provide education, health facilities and employment to our people, and not waste our resources on bombs and ammunition – that’s the message I want to give to PM Modi.” REUTERS
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