Aug 07 , 2015
News
Pakistan ready for unconditional talks with India on all issues: aide
Sartaj confirms Jammu Kashmir will be included as core issue in any Pak-India dialogue
INP
KUALA LUMPUR – Pakistan reaffirmed on Friday that it wants result-oriented dialogue with India on all issues of mutual concern including the core issue of Jammu Kashmir.During the 22nd ministerial meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Malaysian capital, Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said that Pakistan pursues a policy of good neighbourly relations.
Appreciating the vital role of the ASEAN Forum in evolving regional security architecture, he recalled the recent meeting of the prime ministers of Pakistan and India on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Ufa in which Nawaz Sharif and Narendra Modi agreed that the two nations had a collective responsibility to ensure peace and promote development.
The adviser said that Pakistan wants a constructive, sustained, unconditional and result-oriented dialogue with India on all issues of mutual concern including the core issue of Jammu Kashmir. After 9/11, Pakistan had suffered heavily due to growing menace of extremism and terrorism in the region, he mentioned.
He said that the government has undertaken Zarb-e-Azb military operation since June 2014 to combat terrorism of all types. “Our valiant forces are successfully demolishing terrorist infrastructure across Pakistan,” he said. On current political situation in Afghanistan, the adviser emphasised that Pakistan believes in an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.
Being a sincere friend and a good neighbour of Afghanistan, Pakistan hosted a meeting between representatives of the Afghan government and Taliban, he said, adding that the meeting was a major breakthrough. He expressed hope that the two sides would seize this historic opportunity and would continue to engage in dialogue for peace and stability in Afghanistan.
– Emergence of Islamic State –
Sartaj expressed deep concern at the increasing threats to regional peace and stability in the Middle East, saying the ongoing conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and the emergence of the Islamic State were worrisome. Pakistan unequivocally condemns terrorism committed by the Islamic State against the states and individuals, he said.
The adviser expressed serious concern on unprecedented rise in the number of migrants leaving their countries in a bid to escape persecution and economic deprivation at home. He said that the exodus caused hundreds of deaths on rickety boats in the Mediterranean and the Indian ocean without discounting motives of human smugglers in escalating the crisis.
– Generosity for minorities, refugees –
He urged the world community not to shy away from its responsibility in ensuring that minorities and refugees were treated not only justly and fairly, but generously. He availed this opportunity to emphasise Pakistan's keen desire to build deeper trade and economic linkages with the South East Asian countries and the ASEAN. He requested all members of the ASEAN to support Pakistan's case for full dialogue partnership.
On the sidelines of the ministerial meeting, the adviser held bilateral meetings with the Foreign Affairs ministers of China, Turkey, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, North Korea and Norway in which he held wide-ranging discussions including the issues of peace and security in the Asia Pacific region and ways and means to tackle traditional and non-traditional security challenges.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk