ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday sent a “positive message” to India, saying the country does not believe in “permanent enmity” and urged the new government in New Delhi to “calmly deliberate” future ties with Islamabad.
The 74-year-old Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader was speaking at a seminar at the Islamabad Institute of Strategic Studies (ISSI) and said Pakistan has always sought “good neighbourly relations”.
“To our east, relations with India remain historically problematic. Pakistan does not believe in permanent hostility. We seek good neighbourly relations with India based on mutual respect, sovereign equality and a just and peaceful resolution of the long-standing Jammu and Kashmir dispute,” Dar said.
The foreign minister said Pakistan was always open to constructive engagement through dialogue including all outstanding issues, but would never agree to “a unilateral approach or any attempt to impose Indian will or hegemony”.
Pakistan downgraded ties with India after the Indian parliament suspended Article 370 of the constitution on August 5, 2019, a decision Islamabad saw as undermining the environment for holding talks between the neighboring countries.
India has maintained that it wants normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan but that the onus is on Islamabad to create an environment free of terror and hostility for such engagement.
Pakistan also said it would take all necessary steps to maintain strategic stability in South Asia and would respond effectively and decisively to any thoughtless military missteps by India.
Dar also asked the BJP-led government to reflect on its ties with Pakistan.
“In our view, as the BJP-led NDA government begins a new term, it is time for a sober reflection on the future of India-Pakistan relations and cross-cutting issues affecting the entire region,” Dar said.
“India’s illegal and unilateral action on August 5, 2019 has adversely affected the environment of bilateral relations,” he said.
“The responsibility lies with India to take necessary steps to create an enabling environment for purposeful engagement and result-oriented dialogue on all issues,” he stressed.
“South Asia is home to more than one-fifth of humanity. The region faces daunting challenges including poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, disease, food insecurity, water scarcity, natural disasters, environmental degradation and the impacts of climate change,” he further said.
“South Asian countries would be wise to fight these challenges rather than pitting themselves against each other. We are not only the least economically integrated region, but also the lowest ranked in almost all indicators of human development,” the minister said.
He asserted that the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), the only viable platform for regional cooperation and tackling myriad challenges, remains stalled due to “stubbornness of certain member states”.
“South Asia’s political leaders owe it to their people and future generations to tread carefully and open a new page in regional relations and mutual cooperation,” he asserted.
Dar said Pakistan’s approach has been conceptualised as a “peaceful neighbourhood” policy.
Dar asserted that Pakistan has consistently sought to foster peaceful, cooperative and good-neighborly relations with all its neighbours and far-flung neighbours.
He said despite challenges and in some cases setbacks, Pakistan’s approach has remained steadfast.
“A peaceful, stable, united and prosperous Afghanistan is in Pakistan’s vital interest. From history and geography to faith and culture, language and literature, cuisine and music, no two countries in the world have more in common than Pakistan and Afghanistan,” Dar said.
He said that since the establishment of the Taliban government in August 2021, Pakistan has adopted a pragmatic approach and has focused on practical cooperation aimed at averting a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and promoting the welfare of 40 million Afghan people.
“Pakistan has also prioritized regional cooperation to ensure that our actions are in harmony with the entire international community. Besides emphasizing inclusive governance and respect for the rights of all Afghans, Pakistan also stresses the need to ensure that Afghan territory is not used to launch terrorism against any nation,” he said.
He said Pakistan sincerely hopes that the Afghan Interim Authorities will heed this request and realise that it is in their enlightened interest to take necessary practical steps to address our serious concerns.
About China, he said Pakistan has its most reliable friend China. “Strategic cooperation with China in all circumstances is the linchpin of Pakistan’s foreign policy,” Dar said. “It is also a stabilizing factor in the region and beyond. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a transformational project that will contribute both to Pakistan’s economic recovery and regional prosperity,” Dar said.
He was speaking about Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent visit to China. “Following the successful completion of 10 years of CPEC, we have jointly agreed to pursue its upgraded version in the coming years. Essentially, our focus will be on industrialization, digitalization, green transition, agriculture and people-to-people exchanges,” he said.
He also said that Pakistan will make every effort to ensure the safety and security of Chinese personnel and projects in Pakistan.
Published June 26, 2024 01:02 IST
