US says dialogue between India, Pakistan 'a matter for those two countries'
- Statement comes after PM Shehbaz Sharif had asked Indian PM Narendra Modi to hold talks to resolve issues
The US has said that while it has called for regional stability in South Asia, the “character of any dialogue between India and Pakistan is a matter for those two countries”.
During the US State Department’s weekly press briefing, spokesperson Ned Price was asked to comment about India rejecting Pakistan’s offer to talk about “burning issues” between the two neighbours.
“What are your comments on that? Because you always talk about the peace and stability in the region,” Price was asked during the briefing.
“We’ve long called for regional stability in South Asia. That’s certainly what we want to see. We want to see it advanced,” Price said.
He added that when it comes to Washington’s relations with India and Pakistan, they stand on their own and the US does not see these relationships as “zero-sum”.
India asked to hold ‘serious’ talks on Kashmir dispute
“They stand on their own…the pace, the scope, the character of any dialogue between India and Pakistan is a matter for those two countries,” Price added.
His statement comes after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had asked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold talks to resolve issues.
The prime minister, in an interview with Al Arabiya news channel, said, “My message to the Indian leadership and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is that let us sit down on the table and have serious and sincere talks to resolve our burning issues like Kashmir.”
“Minorities in India are being persecuted. This must stop so that message can go around the globe that India is ready to have talks,” he added.
He also said “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, that is the message I want to give to Prime Minister Modi.”
“We are nuclear powers, armed to the teeth and if God forbid a war breaks out who will live to tell what happened,” he remarked.
Later, a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) clarified that talks with India can only take place after the country reverses its “illegal action of August 5, 2019” in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
The PMO stated that without India’s revocation of reversing its illegal action of August 5, 2019, negotiations are not possible.
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