Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his willingness for a meaningful dialogue with India to address all outstanding issues during a telephonic conversation with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday, about two months after tensions between the two neighbours escalated after the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people.
According to Radio Pakistan, the Prime Minister said during the conversation that “Pakistan is ready to engage in a meaningful dialogue with India on all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, water, trade and terrorism”. Soon after the Pahalgam terror attack, India took multiple punitive measures, including putting the 1960 Indus Water Treaty (IWT) in abeyance and stopping all trade with Pakistan.
Prime Minister Sharif expressed profound gratitude for the Kingdom’s steadfast support to Pakistan during the recent standoff with India, according to Radio Pakistan. Earlier last month too, Sharif had, while in Iran and in Azerbaijan, expressed willingness to hold peace talks with India to resolve all outstanding issues, including Kashmir, terrorism, water and trade.
However, India has made it clear that it will only have a dialogue with Pakistan on the return of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the issue of terrorism. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also said that the Indus Water Treaty will remain in abeyance till the time Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support to cross-border terrorism.
Meanwhile, Radio Pakistan said Sharif and the Saudi leader also exchanged views on the rapidly evolving situation in West Asia. The Prime Minister said that Pakistan fully supported the immediate de-escalation of the Iran-Israel conflict as well as its peaceful resolution through dialogue and diplomacy. On his part, the Crown Prince thanked the Prime Minister for the telephone call and appreciated Pakistan’s expression of solidarity and support for the Kingdom, said Radio Pakistan, adding that Mohammed bin Salman acknowledged Pakistan’s constructive role in promoting a peaceful resolution to the Iran-Israel conflict.
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