- Sheikh calls on nations around the globe to help with a lasting settlement to Kashmir issue
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States on Saturday called on the world powers to resolve the Kashmir dispute, terming it the “core issue” of the recent complete breakdown of ties with India in the wake of the Pahalgam attack.
“It could be an important part of President [Donald] Trump’s legacy to attend to this situation — not with a Band-Aid solution, but by addressing the core issue: the Kashmir dispute,” Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Rizwan Saeed Sheikh said in an interview with Fox News Digital published earlier today.
The fast-rising tensions between the two countries follow the April 22 attack in Pahalgam, tourist attraction in Indian occupied Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists, prompting India to renew its blaming of Pakistan for sustaining “cross-border terrorism”, a claim Pakistan denies.
“This is one nuclear flashpoint,” the envoy said.
During his interview with Fox News, Sheikh also called on nations around the globe to help with a lasting settlement to the Kashmir issue.
He said: “Previously, when the situation has been at this level or the tensions have escalated, the international community has attended to the situation, but taken their eyes [and] attention away, even before the situation could fully defuse.
“This time, perhaps it would be […] timely in terms of the situation elsewhere on the globe, with similar instances, […] to perhaps not afford a Band-Aid solution, but to address the broader problem.”
“Any misadventure or miscalculation can lead to a nuclear interface,” the ambassador was quoted as saying. “That is certainly not desirable in such a densely populated region.”
“We want a peaceful neighbourhood,” Sheikh emphasised, adding that Pakistan did not want any instability in the region.
However, he stressed, Pakistan’s desire for peace “should not in any way be misconstrued as a sign of weakness”. “We want peace with dignity.”
Sheikh described India’s response to the Pahalgam attack as dangerously premature and inflammatory, according to the report.
The envoy reiterated Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s offer to hold a “neutral and transparent” probe into the Pahalgam attack. He pointed out that both the investigation offer and Pakistan’s request for evidence linking it to the attack had gone “unanswered”.
“Within minutes of the attack, India began levelling accusations against Pakistan,” he said, noting that a post-investigation report was filed just 10 minutes after the incident occurred, despite the remote and rugged terrain near the scene.
The ambassador warned that the region was once again being held “hostage to the war of hysteria” by India’s government and media, who immediately “began beating war drums”.
On the allegations implied by India, which has not yet named Pakistan or any entity directly, Sheikh said the suspects were reportedly Indian nationals whose homes have already been raided.
He questioned why India is looking outside its borders rather than addressing “administrative inadequacies” in occupied Kashmir. He slammed India’s broader policies in held Kashmir, including the alleged settlement of non-residents into the region.
