Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan stated on Wednesday that Kashmir is the one dispute with India and it will probably solely be resolved by means of dialogue.
Addressing the Sri Lanka-Pakistan Trade and Investment Conference which he co-chaired along with his counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo, Khan stated that he provided India a chance to carry peace talks on being elected as prime minister in 2018 however nothing got here to cross.
“Our only dispute is Kashmir and it can only be resolved through dialogue,” he stated.
Earlier this month, India stated it needs regular neighbourly relations with Pakistan in an setting freed from terror, hostility and violence.
“Immediately when I came into power, I approached our neighbour India and explained to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the way forward for the subcontinent is to resolve our differences through dialogue,” Khan stated.
“I didn’t succeed but I am optimistic that eventually sense will prevail. The only way the subcontinent can tackle poverty is by improving trade relations,” he added.
India has stated that the onus is on Pakistan to create an setting freed from terror and hostility.
“Our position is well-known. India desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava stated. “The onus is on Pakistan for creating such an environment.”
Ties between India and Pakistan nosedived after a terror assault on the Pathankot Air Force base in 2016 by terror teams primarily based within the neighbouring nation. Subsequent assaults, together with one on Indian Army camp in Uri, additional deteriorated the connection.
The relationship dipped additional after India’s conflict planes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist coaching camp deep inside Pakistan on February 26, 2019 in response to the Pulwama terror assault wherein 40 CRPF jawans have been killed.
The relations deteriorated after India in August 2019 introduced withdrawing particular powers of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcation of the state into two union territories.
Khan, who’s the primary head of state to go to Sri Lanka for the reason that COVID-19 pandemic, stated political stability within the area – by sustaining good relations with neighbouring nations – ensured a business-friendly setting that resulted within the folks’s general growth.
The Sri Lankan Muslim leaders have been allowed to satisfy Khan after the chance was denied to them initially.
Rauff Hakeem, the chief of the principle Muslim occasion – Sri Lanka Muslim Congress – stated that that they had a pleasing and fruitful dialogue with Khan. He stated the Pakistani prime minister had expressed confidence within the potential of the Muslim leaders to realize communal concord within the island nation.
Khan was beneath strain from native Muslim leaders to lift the difficulty of pressured cremations of Muslim COVID-19 victims.
Sri Lanka had adopted a coverage of permitting solely cremations citing well being points regardless of opposition from the Muslim neighborhood and worldwide rights teams who have been insisting on respecting the Islamic non secular ceremony of burials.
Khan congratulated Sri Lanka earlier this month when Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa stated in Parliament that burials can be allowed for Muslim victims of COVID-19. However, the choice is but to be applied.
