Top NATO aide wants Kashmir dispute resolved

Gen Pavel says Nato wants a broader political framework agreement with Pakistan to expand mutual military cooperation

ISLAMABAD: A top Nato official on Thursday said the world cannot remain indifferent to the issue of Kashmir.

“The Kashmir dispute has to be addressed as two nuclear powers are party to it,” Chairman of the Nato Military Committee General Petr Pavel was quoted as saying in a meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. “The world cannot remain indifferent and must be concerned,” the visiting Nato general said.



“The international community and the United Nations have to be consistent on principles and rules while addressing important issues,” he added.

Gen Pavel said Nato wants a broader political framework agreement with Pakistan to expand mutual military cooperation. “By virtue of its size, Pakistan can play an important role in the region.

We expect a broader political framework agreement between Pakistan and Nato to unlock further mutual military cooperation,” the Prime Minister’s Office quoted him as saying.

He called the scale of Pakistan’s counter-terrorism campaign ‘large and impressive in yielding results’. “Pakistan has shown great progress in the war against terror in the last couple of years.  The reconstruction and rebuilding process will be worth following in this regard,” he said.

Prime Minister Nawaz said his government has a stated policy on Afghanistan which he expressed from the day one after assuming the responsibilities as premier. “We have conveyed to the leadership of Afghanistan that the enemies of Afghanistan are the enemies of Pakistan and we have stood by our words,” he said.

The prime minister said that even yesterday Pakistan announced an assistance of $500 million in addition to an earlier assistance of $500 million for Afghanistan to help them overcome problems and achieve stability. “We genuinely believe that stability in Afghanistan is crucial for achieving stability in our own country and the region,” he added.



“I myself and the chief of army staff visited Afghanistan and always assured them of our fullest cooperation to root out the menace of terrorism which is a common enemy for both the countries,” emphasised the prime minister. He further said that the Pakistani civil and military leadership are in touch with Afghan leadership and have been facilitating the reconciliation process on the request of Afghan government.

“We believe that an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation process is vital to achieving long term peace and stability in Afghanistan,” the premier added.

Gen Pavel said his meetings with all the services chiefs and others were highly satisfactory. “I am highly impressed with the state of affairs, professional standards and approach of Pakistan’s armed forces. I would like to acknowledge the comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy which has achieved a lot and there are many lessons for Nato to learn from it,” he said.



Premier Nawaz, meanwhile, said India is creating problems and has resorted to double standards on the issue of Indian-Occupied Kashmir (IOK). “India unfairly blamed Pakistan for the Uri attack without investigating the incident. India does not realise that the youth of IOK have re-energised the freedom struggle.”

“We want peaceful relations with all of our neighbours. Pakistan will continue to extend moral, diplomatic and political support to the Kashmir cause. The atrocities by the Indian forces have resulted in the loss of precious human lives and blinded hundreds through the use of brutal force,” the prime minister added.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7^th, 2016.