Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry has said that the government and military are willing to hold talks with India for regional peace. In an interview to BBC Urdu, the information minister said that while Pakistan is willing to hold talks, the present government has not received any positive indication from India. “Imran Khan has given many hints to New Delhi in this regard,” Chaudhry told the publication. “As soon as he was elected prime minister, Imran invited Indian cricketers,” he stated. “In his first speech, the prime minister said that we will take two steps forward in response to one step from New Delhi,” Chaudhry said. He further added that the prime minister has also spoken with his Indian counterpart. Chaudhry further said that military was in agreement with the government’s decision to approach India to improve ties and hold talks. “Both Imran Khan and General Qamar Javed Bajwa understand that a country cannot progress in isolation,” he said. “Both leaders understand that we will be left behind in the race of development if regional peace is not ensured.”, he added.
It is good to see that there is a widespread consensus and acceptance that reaching out to all neighbours and have a dialogue with them is the only civilized way to sort out all issues peacefully. This is not for the first time that Pakistani government has expressed its desire to resume talks with its eastern neighbour-India-but history bears witness to the fact that New Delhi’s reluctance to resume the stalled dialogue has always been a major hurdle in the way of normalizing the strained relations between the two countries. It is an established fact that the regional peace and stability in South Asia is inescapably linked to the settlement of all issues including the core issue of Kashmir that has been bedeviling the relationship of the two countries since they got independence from British rule in 1947. No doubt there are other issues but Kashmir problem that has been at the center of conflict between the two countries is mother of all problems. Though the Indian rulers also comprehend this bitter reality but they are running away from dialogue because they don’t want to discuss the Kashmir issue on dialogue table. But sooner or later New Delhi will have to accept this ground reality that there is no option but dialogue to settle political disputes like Kashmir. So instead of shying away from talks it is high time that India must shun its policy of obduracy and delay vis-à-vis the resolution of Kashmir dispute.
Now that the newly elected government of Pakistan had made a good beginning it is imperative that India should cease the opportunity, come forward with a positive state of mind and reciprocate positively to Islamabad’s peace overtures. A matching response from the government of India will hopefully pave a way for ending this crippling stalemate the two countries have been trapped in since a long time.
Trending
- Bhawalnagar Incident: Lessons for Pakistan
- Kashmore turned into crime industry
- UK Higher Education Delegation Strengthens Educational Bonds with Pakistan
- The Influence of Social Media on Today’s Youth
- Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi meets Secretary General PTI Omar Ayub
- Six robbers including accused kill in a police operation at Larkana
- Government must evict illegal and suspicious persons from the Capital: Sadia Khan
- A speech competition for the final selection of students will be held at UoP on April 24