Ashrafi links talks with India to Kashmir

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Ulema Council Chairman and Special Aide to Prime Minister on Religious Harmony and Middle East Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi said the country has good relations with all Islamic and neighbouring countries and the negotiations with India can only be held once it agrees to resolve the Kashmir issue.

“If India comes to the position of August 2019 in the Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K), there can be a possibility of negotiations,” he said, while talking to the media on Thursday.

Ashrafi also condemned the attack on Pakistan’s security forces at the Pak-Iran border, terming the assault ‘sad and unacceptable’. He said the government of Pakistan has conveyed its clear stance to the Iranian government, adding that it is the responsibility of the Iranian government to arrest and hand over the culprits to the government of Pakistan. “Violation of Pakistan’s border either from Afghanistan or Iran is not acceptable,” he added.

“Our armed forces and security agencies know very well how to protect the borders of the country,” Ashrafi said, adding that the nation stands by its army and security agencies. “Pakistan is a sovereign country with a strong army and wants positive and stable relations with all the Islamic and neighbouring countries,” he said.

Ashrafi further said the negotiation offer extended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif should not be construed as weakness, because it was made in the face of prevailing situation in the region. “If peaceful talks between Pakistan and India improve things with a possibility to the solution of the Kashmir issue and India stops atrocities against minorities, it will be a good time for negotiations,” he maintained.

He said Pakistan has always condemned foreign interference in the internal affairs of Islamic countries, adding that the Islamic countries should resolve their issues through the platform of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). He further said the stronger OIC is in the interest of the Islamic countries and rest of the world.