Kashmir issue should be resolved according to wishes of Kashmiri people, says Abdul Basit

‘Pakistan wants to hold dialogue with India on the basis of equality and dignity’

AMRITSAR: Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit Khan has said Pakistan has been making sincere efforts to eradicate the menace of terrorism.

Talking to media in Amritsar, he said, “Terrorism is a common enemy, and we should find comprehensive and strong approaches to deal with this challenge rather than pointing fingers towards each other.”

Abdul Basit said Pakistan has always talked of negotiations to settle all the outstanding issues with India.  He said, “There is a difficult phase present in relations between Pakistan and India.”  Abdul Basit said, “Pakistan has no hesitation to hold negotiations with India,” adding that Pakistan wants to hold dialogue with India on the basis of equality and dignity. 

He said, “Dialogue is our strength as we are talking about genuine issues that are unresolved. However, the offer of talks should not be construed as our weakness as we want them on equal and dignified basis.”

Abdul Basit Khan said, “Kashmir is the main hurdle in normalization of relations between Pakistan and India. We have a principled stand that Kashmir issue should be resolved according to the wishes of the Kashmiri people.” 

He said durable and viable peace could not be restored in South Asia without the resolution of Kashmir dispute. Replying to a question he said the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, had productive talks with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday. 

During the half-hour meeting, which was one-on-one, both the leaders discussed a host of issues.  He said the Advisor stressed that peaceful and stable Afghanistan is in Pakistan’s interest and Islamabad is making all out efforts to achieve peace in the neighboring country.

Abdul Basit said Pakistan has given a lot of sacrifices while shouldering the burden of hosting of millions of Afghan refugees during the last thirty-five years. He said Sartaj Aziz in his address at the Heart of Asia Conference had said that a stable and peaceful Afghanistan was in Pakistan’s interest, adding that Pakistan would make all efforts to achieve this goal. 

He said the whole world knows what steps Pakistan is taking to eradicate terrorism. He said due to security reasons India did not allow Indian and Pakistani media to interact with the Advisor to the PM on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz.

He said the declaration of the conference is good as all the banned outfits have been mentioned in the declaration including the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. 

He said the leadership of the TTP is present in Afghanistan and is carrying out operations in Pakistan. Abdul Basit said that it is hoped that Afghanistan and all other countries will play their role for elimination of TTP leadership present in Afghanistan.

He said violence could not be stopped in Afghanistan while leveling allegation on a single country, adding that there was a need to talk on joint strategy to stop terrorism.   He said the issue could not be resolved while blaming Pakistan.

Abdul Basit said Sartaj Aziz and Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval did not hold any official meeting, adding that the two dignitaries only held an informal meeting, and no significant and substantial discussion was held between the two dignitaries.   Pakistan Ambassador to Afghanistan Syed Abrar Hussain was also present on the occasion.