‘South Asian countries victim of terrorism from neighbours’

Islamabad:Former Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani has said that Pakistan was not alone in suffering from state-sponsored terrorism, other South Asian states including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal were also victims of terrorism inflicted on their lands from the common neighbour.

Mr Jilani was speaking as chief guest at the launch of “Critical issues facing South Asia: politics, security and non-traditional challenges” organised here by Institute of Strategic Studies (ISS).

Mr Jilani noted that the subjects forming part of the book included myriad dimensions of Pakistan-India relations and a number of cross-cutting regional issues which were very relevant and had currency in discussions among diplomatic as well as political circles. In the context of terrorism, for instance, he highlighted the salience of nuclear issues between Pakistan and India and, recalling the firing of a nuclear-capable missile from India in March 2022, stressed that it could have resulted in a larger conflagration if Pakistan had not reacted with tremendous restraint.

He underlined that for resolving Pakistan-India disputes, and for ensuring durable peace in the region, it was essential to revive the dialogue process, as disengagement could ignite serious conflict in a nuclearised South Asia. Specifically, he recommended resumption of Pakistan-India dialogue, revival of discussions on all issues -- from the core Jammu & Kashmir dispute to Siachen, Sir Creek and terrorism, revival of Kashmir-related CBMs, respect for and adherence to the Indus Water Treaty in letter and spirit, establishment of permanent mechanism to address nuclear-related issues and revival of the SAARC process for regional cooperation. Dr Asma Shakir Khwaja, Executive Director, CISS, Muzaffarabad, said that the innovative thoughts and critical issues have the potential to turnaround geopolitical landscape of a most populous, yet least connected region like South Asia.