Pakistan clarified on Tuesday 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).
A statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) reiterated PM Shehbaz Sharif's stance from an interview with UAE’s Al Arabiya news channel on Monday, during which he asked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold serious and sincere talks to resolve burning issues, including Kashmir.
He also said the UAE leadership could play an important role in bringing India and Pakistan to the table.
The PMO's statement came a day later, stating that without India’s revocation of reversing its illegal action of August 5, 2019, negotiations are not possible.
The PMO said that the PM had consistently maintained that Pakistan and India must resolve their bilateral issues through dialogue and peaceful means.
According to the statement, "the settlement of the Kashmir dispute must be in accordance with the UN resolutions & aspirations of people of Jammu & Kashmir.
The Prime Minister made this position very clear in his interview with Al Arabiya during his recent visit to the UAE".
PM's interview
In his interview, PM Shehbaz had said that in Kashmir, flagrant human rights violations were taking place day in and day out.
The PM added that India had usurped any semblance of autonomy, given to the Kashmiris according to Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.
"Minorities in India are being persecuted. This must stop so that message can go around the globe that India is ready to have 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, that is the message I want to give to Prime Minister Modi,” he added.
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“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.