Pakistan PM offers India to resolve 'burning issues' through talks

Islamabad, Jan 17 (IANS) Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has sent out a fresh offer to India to resolve all longstanding bilateral issues, which have led to disputes and conflicts between the two nations through sincere and forward looking negotiations.

In an interview to Al-Arabiya television, Sharif offered his Indian counterpart Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sit together and resolve issues including Kashmir.

"My message to the Indian leadership and Prime Minister Modi is that let us sit down on the table and have serious and sincere talks to resolve our burning issues like Kashmir," he said.

"In Kashmir, flagrant human rights violations are taking place day in and day out," he added.

Sharif has asked the UAE to play its role in bringing both India and Pakistan to table talks.

Emphasising the urgent need to find mutual grounds of understanding on the issue of Kashmir, Sharif said: "India had usurped any semblance of autonomy, given to the Kashmiris according to Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, as the autonomy was revoked in August 2019."

Shehbaz Sharif said that the not only the world need to realise that India and Pakistan are neighbours, but both the countries need to understand the importance of co-existing peacefully.

"It is up to us to live peacefully and make progress or quarrel with each other, and waste time and resources," he said.

"We have three wars with India and it only brought more misery, poverty and unemployment to the people," he added.

Sharif further said that Pakistan realises the past and has "learned its lesson", which is why it now wants to live in peace and resolve bilateral problems through table talks.

"We want to alleviate poverty, achieve prosperity and provide education and health facilities and employment to our people and not waste our resources on bombs and ammunition, this is the message I want to give to Prime Minister Modi," he said.

Sharif also highlighted the threats and fears of effects of the "strained ties" between India and Pakistan, stating that both countries are nuclear powers and if the conflict triggers a war, then there will be no one left to live and tell what happened.

Sharif has asked the UAE to play a similar role like it acted in connecting both India and Pakistan in the past to re-enforce the Simla agreement and brought both sides to mutually agree for a ceasefire at the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working Boundary (WB).

The UAE played vital role in arranging important high-level meetings between Pakistan's and India's top military leadership and played important role in bringing both parties to agree for the ceasefire.