The Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit on Tuesday hoped India and Pakistan will soon move from confrontation to co-operation. "The spirit is there, that spirit needs to be built on. I want to assure you that our PM Nawaz Sharif is committed to peace between our two nations. We hope that very soon our leaders meet and resolve all issues of importance between our two nations," Basit said at the Eid Milan programme hosted by him.
“We wish that both countries live together and aid in each other's development. I want to assure you that Pakistan under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif wants good relations with India. We want that the issues between our two nations, especially the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, should be solved by bilateral talks," Basit said.
Separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid, Syed Bukhari and AAP leader Ilyas Azmi were also among those who attended the function. Hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani gave a miss to the gathering. Geelani did not attend to register protest against the non-inclusion of Kashmir in the joint statement issued by both nations after the meeting of the Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif in in Ufa. Separatist group Dukhtaran-e-Millat too boycotted the event.
Mirwaiz conveyed to Basit "concerns" over non-inclusion of Kashmir in the recent talks between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif in Russia.
Ministry of Home Affairs sources said they are keeping an eye on the developments.
Basit had earlier planned to host an Iftar on July 4 during Ramzan in which separatist leaders were invited. However, it was cancelled in view the forthcoming meeting between Modi and Sharif in Ufa. Officially, the Pakistani embassy officials maintained that the Iftar was cancelled because of a deaths in Karachi due to heat wave.
Basit had earlier said there was nothing unusual about the decision to invite Hurriyat leaders to the Eid Milan. "The hype being created by some is unfortunate, to put it mildly. Pakistan will continue extending its full moral, political and diplomatic support to the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their legitimate struggle for self-determination," Basit said.