Pak-India dialogue is way forward: Imran

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan says the only way for Pakistan and India to move towards peace and prosperity of their peoples and the region is through dialogue.

The prime minister on Tuesday posted on Twitter, “To move forward, Pakistan and India must have a dialogue and resolve their conflicts including Kashmir.”

“The best way to alleviate poverty and uplift the people of the subcontinent is to resolve our differences through dialogue and start trading,” he added.

During his inaugural speech as the prime minister of Pakistan on Sunday, Imran said he had spoken with all of Pakistan’s neighbours about improving relations with them.

“There is a need for peace and without it we cannot improve the country's situation," he had said.

Addressing sections of the Indian media, politicians and civil society who were throwing barbs at Sidhu for visiting Pakistan and hugging Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Imran said: "Those in India who targeted him [Sidhu] are doing a great disservice to peace in the subcontinent."

"He was an ambassador of peace and was given amazing love and affection by people of Pakistan," Imran wrote.

“I want to thank Sidhu for coming to Pakistan for my oath-taking,” he wrote.

Talking about the so-called war on terror, Imran said Pakistan stood with the international community to eliminate terrorism and make the world a haven of peace.

The PTI-led government had also extended an olive branch to India a day earlier when Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi expressed his determination to pursue dialogue with India.

"Us coming to the table and talking peace is our only option. We need to stop adventurism and come together. We know the issues are tough and will not be solved overnight, but we have to engage," Qureshi had said.

"We cannot turn our cheek. Yes we have outstanding issues. Kashmir is a reality; it is an issue that both our nations acknowledge. "We need a continued and uninterrupted dialogue. This is our only way forward," he had stressed.

"We may have a different approach and line of thinking, but I want to see a change in how we behave," he had added. "India and Pakistan have to move forward keeping realities before them."