India ought to resolve all disputes, including Kashmir: PM

ISLAMABAD: A day after President Barack Obama left India after a three-day visit, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said that India is an important neighbour and Pakistan would like to have normal relations with the country on the basis of mutual respect and sovereign equality, because it was important for Pakistan to have good relations with all the neighboring countries.
“It is important that the two countries resolve all their outstanding issues including Jammu and Kashmir in order to have viable peace in the region,” Sharif told Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India, Abdul Basit, who called on him at the PM House on Wednesday.
“I am here on a private visit to attend a family wedding and today called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz, Special Assistant Tariq Fatemi and the Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chowdhury at the Foreign Office,” Abdul Basit told The News.
Brushing aside reports that he was summoned, Basit said it was a private visit and he used the opportunity to call on the leadership in Islamabad. He leaves on Thursday for New Delhi.
When asked to comment on Obama’s recent visit to New Delhi, the high commissioner said that one has to understand that, “India has its own relations with the US while Pakistan too has its own. One can only hope that the Obama visit to India will help bring about stability and peace in the region.” This, he said, would be of significance for Pakistan.
On Tuesday, Sartaj Aziz asked the United States to play a constructive role for strategic stability and balance in South Asia, and said the operationalisation of the Indo-US nuclear deal for political and economic expediencies would have a detrimental impact on deterrence stability in South Asia. “Pakistan reserves the right to safeguard its national security interests,” he added.