Pakistan is ready to talk to India on bilateral problems if India is willing to address “serious matters”, said Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on August 1.
Inaugurating the Pakistan Minerals Summit in Islamabad, Mr. Sharif said that the two countries can no longer settle disputes through war.
“We have nothing against anybody. We have to look after our own self. Build our nation. Even with our neighbour, we are prepared to talk to them provided that the neighbour is serious to talk serious matters on the table. Because war is no longer an option. Pakistan is a nuclear power, not for aggression but for our defence purposes,” said Mr. Sharif, addressing an international audience.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs is yet to respond to the remarks by Mr. Sharif. This is the second offer of dialogue Mr. Sharif has made in the last six months, during which Pakistan has witnessed political upheaval because of the crackdown against Opposition leader and former PM Imran Khan.
In his speech, Mr. Sharif made a strong pitch for addressing the economic crisis that Pakistan has been facing in the recent past and said Islamabad wants to have working relations with major stakeholders like the U.S. “We want to work with the Americans. The American Ambassador is sitting here. We really want to have the best of relations with them as we used to have in the past — on the basis of mutual respect and trust and not try to deceive each other and to try to use available opportunities for the good of both the countries and people and, similarly, with other countries,” said Mr. Sharif.
He said war and violence in South Asia has harmed the development process in the region. “God forbid, if there is a nuclear flashpoint, who will live to tell the tale? So war is not an option,” Mr. Sharif said. “But it is equally important that our neighbour has to understand that we cannot become normal neighbours unless abnormalities are removed, our serious issues are understood and addressed through peaceful and meaningful discussion,” he added.
Apart from political challenges from rivals, Mr. Sharif also has to deal with the challenge of terrorism, which hit international headlines on Monday when at least 45 persons were killed in a political rally of the Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).
