Pakistan plans to invite India for a dialogue on Kashmir, Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan’s prime minister’s foreign affairs advisor said today; just days after India insisted that it would discuss only Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) with Pakistan.
Advertisement
Earlier, leader of Congress Mallikarjun Kharge demanded that the House pass a resolution on Kashmir where the situation was turning complex and was deteriorating by the day. The security forces will act with utmost restraint.
The ties between India and Pakistan have seen growing bitterness after Pakistan and its Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif made provocative statements on the Kashmir situation in the wake of killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with the security forces on July 8.
He said, “We are formally inviting NSG Troika (Korea, Argentina and Switzerland) to visit Pakistan for a detailed briefing on our credentials”.
He said that Pakistan was considering to translate its unilateral moratorium of Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) of nuclear material into a bilateral arrangement on non-testing with India.
The advisor said that while our relations with China are time-tested, we would also like to maintain cordial relations with the United States.
He thanked parties from across the political spectrum for having spoken in one voice on the issue. Home Minister Rajnath Singh reiterated in Rajya Sabha that the only outstanding issue with Pakistan is the return of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. He even laid out the issue that were touched upon by the Prime Minister in addition to highlighting the atrocities committed by Pakistan in Baluchistan and PoK.
Opposition parties have sought that a delegation made up of members of different parties be sent to Kashmir to reach out to the people, but the team will need a nuanced brief with the unrest in the Valley at a peak.
The head of a Pakistan-based militant group fighting Indian rule in Kashmir has warned that his followers will storm the cease-fire line that divides the region unless New Delhi ends its current wave of violence against Kashmiris.
“I have assured all the political parties that every suggestion, which they have put forward to bring normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir would be taken into consideration”, he added.
Advertisement
The Finance Minister said that the decision to call separatists and Hurriyat leaders for talks would be evaluated by the government as per the prevailing situation. About Kashmir protests, they said that recently Abu Dujana, the most wanted LeT terrorist, was also reported to have participated in the gathering, wearing a mask and surrounded by many people.
