ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that any talks between Pakistan and India are only possible after New Delhi restores autonomy of the part of Kashmir it controls, the Pakistan PM’s office said on Tuesday after he requested the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for mediation in the dispute.
Sharif told Al Arabiya News Channel he had recently requested United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan to facilitate Islamabad’s talks with India over Kashmir and other outstanding issues. The prime minister said Pakistan had “learnt its lesson” and wanted to “live in peace with India.”
But his office clarified in a statement that any dialogue with the neighboring arch-rival was not possible without the restoration of the autonomy of India-controlled part of Kashmir, which New Delhi revoked more than three years ago.
“The Prime Minister has repeatedly stated on record that talks can only take place after India had reversed its illegal action of August 5, 2019,” the statement read.
“Without India’s revocation of this step, negotiations are not possible. The settlement of the Kashmir dispute must be in accordance with the UN resolutions & the aspirations of the people of Jammu & Kashmir.”
The prime minister made this position very clear in his interview with Al Arabiya during his visit to the UAE last week, according to the statement.
The Muslim-majority Himalayan region of Kashmir has been a flashpoint between Pakistan and India since their independence from the British rule in 1947.
Relations between bitter rivals India and Pakistan hit a new low on August 5, 2019, after New Delhi revoked Kashmir’s special status, taking away the territory’s autonomy and dividing it into three federally administered territories.
Both Pakistan and India rule parts of the Himalayan territory, but claim it in full and have fought two of their four wars over the disputed region.
Sharif told Al Arabiya that wars between the two countries had brought nothing except 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,” he said.
