Dialogue with India ‘want of Pakistan’: Former Pak Army spokesperson
The former DG of the ISPR mentioned that the instability in Pakistan would additionally spill over into India and vice versa, and that “we should not only wait for the establishment” and look in direction of different choices as properly.
New Delhi,UPDATED: Feb 20, 2023 17:41 IST
India and Pakistan should maintain talks, a former Pak military official mentioned (Representational)
By Subodh Kumar: Dialogue is a necessity of Pakistan, the previous chief of the nation’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Athar Abbas, mentioned. “The way forward is not just the state apparatus, because if you leave it [solely] to the security establishment, there will be no move forward. It will be like taking one step forward and two steps backwards,” he added.
“A state (Pakistan) that is at war with itself, who will listen to them?” he requested. “The priority should be to put this house in order if the opposition is at war with the government. If there is an internal security situation, terrorism and a civil-military divide, undermining each other, who will listen to you (Pakistan government) in this situation?”
“There has to be an initiative, like track II diplomacy. The media, business and trade organisations, and academia can interact and create their spaces within Indian society. That would build the pressure on the (Indian) government (and) state authorities to look into what the people are saying. This is a requirement of the time. Dialogue is a need of Pakistan,” Abbas harassed.
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If met with resistance, Pakistan might additionally contain “external actors” such because the US and the European Union, he mentioned.
Asked how quickly he noticed any talks with the neighbours, Abbas mentioned, “You cannot change your neighbour. Eventually, they will have to come to a negotiating table even if they feel they are a great power.”
The former DG of the ISPR mentioned that the instability in Pakistan would additionally spill over into India and vice versa, and that “we should not only wait for the establishment” and look in direction of different choices as properly.
There had been “missed opportunities” up to now by each international locations to provoke talks, he mentioned, recalling former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s bus diplomacy and former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s Agra initiative.
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Published On:
Feb 20, 2023
