ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday recalled that Prime Minister Imran Khan had offered to take two steps towards peace if India takes one soon after assuming office.
In a statement, the foreign minister said that Pakistan will not shy away from dialogue if India reviews its policy and expresses readiness for peaceful solution of all issues including Kashmir dispute. Responsibility rests with India to create an enabling environment for dialogue with Pakistan, he added.
Qureshi further said that the re-enforcement of ceasefire agreement after talks between the DGMOs of both countries is a positive development.
His comments come a day after Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa renewed the offer of peace to India and said Pakistan was ready to resolve all lingering disputes with its neighbours through dialogue “in a dignified and peaceful manner”.
Addressing the gathering on the final day of the two-day Islamabad Security Dialogue, the army chief, who was the chief guest on the occasion, said that Pakistan’s “choice [to seek a dialogue] is deliberate” and based on reason, and not a result of any external pressure.
A stable relationship between arch-rival neighbours was key to unlocking the potential of south and central Asian regions by way of ensuring connectivity between East and West Asia, he said.
He said that it was high time that synergies are created in the region through connectivity, peaceful coexistence and resource sharing to fight common enemies such as hunger, illiteracy, and diseases instead of fighting forever wars.
“The Kashmir dispute is at the heart of it [issues between India and Pakistan],” he said.
The army chief stressed the need to understand that without the peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute, the process […] will always remain vulnerable to derailment to politically-motivated bellicosity.”
The unresolved disputes in South Asia were dragging the entire region into debt and poverty, he observed.
“Despite being an impoverished region, we end up spending a lot of money on defense which naturally comes at the expense of human development,” he said.
Gen Bajwa observed the national security encompassed more than just matters and affairs related to strengthening the country’s security forces. “It included development and human security as well,” he said.
He also noted that “despite rising security challenges, Pakistan has been one of the few countries that have resisted the temptation of involving itself in an arms race”, citing the decrease in the country’s defence expenditure.
“Today, the leading drivers of change in the world are demography, economy and technology. However, one issue that remains central to this concept is economic security and cooperation. Frayed relations between various powers centres of the globe and boomeranging of competing alliances can bring nothing but another stint of Cold War.”
Pointing to Islamabad’s role in easing the start of reconciliation talks between warring Afghan parties, Gen Bajwa said that the Afghan peace dialogue is solid evidence of Pakistan’s benevolent goodwill.
He observed that Pakistan persuaded the Taliban to negotiate and sign a landmark agreement with the United States in February 2020, leading to the commencement of the intra-Afghan negotiations first in Doha and now in Moscow.
He said that Pakistan will continue to seek a sustained and inclusive peace process for the betterment of the people of war-town Afghanistan and regional peace.
He further said that Pakistan has also undertaken unprecedented measures to enhance Afghan trade and connectivity by reenergising the Afghan-Pakistan transit trade agreement and also providing access to Afghanistan to export its goods to India.
The army chief said that the country’s efforts for lasting peace in Afghanistan and responsible and mature behaviour towards India manifested its desire to change the narrative of geo-political contestation to geo-economic integration.
Gen Bajwa said that Islamabad’s long fight against terrorism and extremism also “manifested our resolve and national will”. He said: “We have come a long way but short still of our final objective. We are determined to stay the course.”
The army chief said that “we had realised that unless our own house is in order, nothing good could be expected from outside”. Now Pakistan has begun work towards sustainable development and improving the economic conditions of underprivileged areas, he added.
He said that the military has contributed immensely towards this national cause by rebuilding and mainstreaming some of the most neglected areas through massive development, besides ensuring peace and security.
He also said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has been at the heart of Pakistan’s economic transformational plan. He further said that Pakistan has made sincere efforts to make the gamechanger project “inclusive, transparent, and attractive for all global and regional players with the aim of bringing its benefits to everyone”.
