Sharif made the remarks during an interview with Dubai-based Al Arabiya news channel on Monday. Relations between India and Pakistan have been strained over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called for serious talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to resolve various burning issues, including Kashmir, saying the United Arab Emirates (UAE) can play an important role in resuming dialogue between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. Is. Sharif made the remarks during an interview with Dubai-based Al Arabiya news channel on Monday. Relations between India and Pakistan have been strained over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
India has already rejected any third party mediation on the Kashmir issue. Sharif said, “My message to the Indian leadership and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is that let us sit at the negotiating table and talk seriously to resolve the burning issues like Kashmir.” He said that Pakistan and India are neighboring countries. And they have to “live with each other.” He said, “It is up to us to live in peace, make progress, or fight among ourselves, and waste time and resources. We have fought three wars with India and this has only increased the misery, poverty and unemployment of the people.
“We have learned our lesson and we want to live in peace provided we can solve our real problems,” Sharif said. We want to remove poverty, achieve prosperity and provide education and health facilities and employment to our people and do not want to waste our resources on bombs and ammunition. And this is the message I want to give to Prime Minister Modi.
India has been maintaining that terrorism and talks cannot go hand in hand and Pakistan should provide a conducive environment for resumption of talks. Relations between the two countries deteriorated further after India abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution, scrapped the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into two union territories on August 5, 2019. Sharif cautioned, “We are nuclear powered, well equipped and God forbid… but if war breaks out, who will live to tell what happened?”
Sharif said the UAE leadership can play an important role in bringing Pakistan and India together. India has maintained that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan and no third country has any role in it. Sharif said that the UAE is a second home for millions of Pakistanis. He visited the Gulf country a few days ago with the aim of securing new loans, expanding bilateral cooperation and trade relations. Pakistan’s Foreign Office said last week that it welcomes third-party mediation to resolve all outstanding issues with India, including Kashmir.
Disclaimer:Prabhasakshi has not edited this news. This news has been published from PTI-language feed.