June 24, 2015
News
‘PM wants cordial relations with neighbouring countries’
ISLAMABAD: Leader of House in Senate, Raja Zafarul Haq on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif always wished to have regional stability, bilateral trade and cordial relations with all the neighbouring countries.
He said this while addressing a seminar on “Mounting Challenges in Pakistan-India Relations,” organised by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI).
Zafarul Haq highlighted historic account of problems between the two states since their creation.
Talking on the tensions emerged few days ago, he acknowledged the role of international players, who played significant role in bringing normalcy to the situation. He further emphasised the need to strengthen Pakistan’s internal stability.
In his welcome remarks, ISSI Director General (DG) Masood Khan highlighted the fact that whatever happened in the past couple of months, from the Indian side, has pushed the entire region to confrontation.
Giving the chronology of the events since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi came into power, he said that the issues ranging from cancellation of foreign secretary level talks to creating hype against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the belligerent statements by the Indian defence and information ministers have lead to the escalation of problems in Indo-Pak relations.
He praised the response given by the Pakistani government and suggested that the problems could only be resolved by the resumption of the dialogue process.
He, however, postulated that both conventional and non-conventional threats must be kept in view while making peace and said Pakistan would defend itself on every forum.
While expressing his views on the recent aggressive statements emanating from India, Lt Gen Waheed Arshad said that such statements should not come as a surprise for Pakistan.
He said Pakistan is fighting multiple wars at regional front, eastern front and internal front. He discussed at length the situation in Afghanistan and emerging challenges for Pakistan.
Arshad was of the view that this is the first time that Hindu mindset has taken charge of the government in India with the ambitions of becoming a global power.
He suggested that Pakistan should aggressively pursue its Kashmir policy and All Parties Hurriyat Conference should assume a more proactive role in mainstream politics.
Renowned lawyer and former law minister Ahmar Bilal Soofi highlighted the fact that it is an obligation of all the countries to support and cooperate with Pakistan in its fight against extremism and terrorism.
“Unfortunately, India is not only shying away from this obligation but also creating obstacles. Indian intelligence agencies are strengthening non-state actors within Pakistan to perpetuate terror. This is an open breach of International law on two counts.
First, India is making it difficult for Pakistan to carry out its duty of fighting terrorists and second, by creating obstacles, India is interfering in Pakistan’s internal affairs.
NUST Head of Department for Government and Public Policy Dr Rifat Hussain was of the view that Pakistan unfortunately misread the raise of Modi to power in India. “With Modi assuming power, Pakistan thought that it would open a new chapter in India-Pakistan relations. One has to keep in mind that Modi has unsavoury past and he is surrounded by advisors who are known for Pakistan bashing,” he added.
Lt Gen (r) Talat Masood deliberated that India is the most important country in its foreign policy perceptions but regretted that the relations have been in the bottle neck in the recent past.
“It is more for India to decide for whether they want to continue with belligerency or want to cooperate and stay a part of the South Asian Region. The relationships in South Asia have taken a new shift with Pakistan and Afghanistan improving relations after the coming of Ashraf Ghani into power,” he added.
He explained that Modi’s government is taking an obstinate view of the relationship because it wants Pakistan to forget about Kashmir. It is dangerous for Modi to take a hostile stance accompanied since both countries are nuclear weapon states.
He warned that militants might use the rift between Pakistan and India to create problems for both the countries. Pakistan needs to maintain this confrontation with dignity and respectability.
Renowned anchorperson Talat Hussain said that Pakistan has always had a reactive policy towards India. Pakistan also needs to do away with the ‘gesture diplomacy’ and empty rhetoric and develop a coherent India policy, he added.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk