Sending contradictory signals, Pakistan on Tuesday first sought “serious” and “sincere” talks with India, but within hours took a U-turn saying negotiations between the two neighbours are not possible till India withdrew its August 5, 2019 decision to scrap Article 370 of the Constitution that granted special status to Jammu & Kashmir.
Making a candid outreach to New Delhi, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif first said his country has learnt its lessons after three wars with India and sought “serious” and “sincere” talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for the resolution of the “burning” issues, including Kashmir.
Sharif said the UAE could play a vital role in facilitating the resumption of dialogue between the two nuclear-armed neighbours adding Pakistan wants to live in peace with India.
Sharif made these comments during an interview with the Dubai-based Al Arabiya news channel on Monday. However, later the Prime Minister’s Office in Islamabad said “talks can only take place after India reversed its illegal action of August 5, 2019. Without India’s revocation of this step, negotiations are not possible.”
“In ref. to PM Shehbaz Sharif’s interview to Al Arabiya, the spokesman of the PM Office has said the PM has consistently maintained that Pakistan and India must resolve their bilateral issues, especially the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir, through dialogue and peaceful means. However, the Prime Minister has repeatedly stated on record that talks can only take place after India has reversed its illegal action of August 5, 2019. Without India’s revocation of this step, negotiations are not possible,” Pakistan PM tweeted.“The settlement of the Kashmir dispute must be in accordance with the UN resolutions and aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The spokesman said the Prime Minister made this position very clear in his interview with Al Arabiya news during his recent visit to the UAE.
Sharif said in the interview, “My message to the Indian leadership and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is that let us sit down on the table and have serious and sincere talks to resolve our burning issues like Kashmir.” Pakistan and India are neighbours and have to “live with each other,” he said.
“It is up to us to live peacefully, make progress or quarrel with each other, and waste time and resources. We have three wars with India and it only brought more misery, poverty, and unemployment to the people,” he explained.
“We have learned our lesson and we want to live in peace provided we are able to resolve our genuine problems. We want to alleviate poverty, achieve prosperity, and provide education and health facilities and employment to our people and not waste our resources on bombs and ammunition, that is the message I want to give to Prime Minister Modi,” Sharif elaborated.
India has maintained that terrorism and talks cannot go together and Islamabad should provide a conducive atmosphere for resumption of dialogue.
The ties between the two countries nosedived after India abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution, revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcating the state into two Union Territories on August 5, 2019. India’s decision evoked a strong reaction from Pakistan, which downgraded diplomatic ties and expelled the Indian envoy.
Sharif said, “We are nuclear powers, armed to the teeth and if God forbid a war breaks out, who will live to tell what happened,” he warned. The UAE leadership could play an important role in bringing Pakistan and India together, Sharif also said.
New Delhi has maintained that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan and no third country has a role in it.
Last week, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said it welcomed third-party mediation in the resolution of all outstanding issues with India, including Kashmir.
Sharif said, “India is our neighbour country, we are neighbours. Let’s be very blunt, even if we are not neighbours by choice, we are there forever and it is up to us for us to live peacefully and progress or quarrel with each other and waste time and resources. That is up to us.”
On the Kashmir issue, he said, “Pakistan wants peace but what is happening in Kashmir should be stopped.” He also said both countries have engineers, doctors, and skilled labourers. “We want to utilise these assets for prosperity and to bring peace to the region so that both nations can grow.”