‘India refused to take talks offer’

Sartaj Aziz says Pakistan not aloof to threats to S Asia’s strategic balance

ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani on Tuesday said that the Business Advisory Committee of the House has taken serious notice of India’s ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC).

The Senate Committee of the Whole House, which had been constituted to formulate policy guidelines for the government on Pakistan-India relations with particular reference to Kashmir, also decided to meet again, and review and submit its recommendations again in light of the prevailing situation.

The committee had finalised 22 recommendations, including restoration of backchannel talks between the two countries during its in-camera meeting held in October and presided over by the Senate chairman.





Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, while briefing the upper house over the implementation of the committee’s earlier recommendations, said: “The situation along the LoC has further deteriorated as a result of unprovoked Indian shelling that has killed at least 30 people, including women and children, and another 110 were injured.”

“Pakistan condemns India’s ceasefire violations,” Aziz said, adding, “Pakistan will participate in the forthcoming Heart of Asia Conference in Amritsar despite the fact that India did not participate in the Saarc summit, earlier scheduled for this November in Islamabad.”

The adviser said the country’s armed forces have given a befitting response to India’s violations along the LoC.

“The OIC is taking a deep interest in the Kashmir issue.”

He said a positive response from India to backchannel diplomacy was necessary for peace talks to progress. “However, the response was not positive.”



Aziz said the IT ministry has been asked to highlight Indian aggression in Occupied Kashmir at the international level, adding that Pakistan has prepared a dossier of Indian interference in Pakistan with special reference to Kulbhushan Yadav.

“The dossier will be shared at international forums.”

He also told the upper house that a full-time foreign minister would be appointed at a suitable time with the approval of the Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, addressing a conference on ‘Strengthening Peace and Cooperation in South Asia: Incentives and Constraints’ organised by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), the adviser said Pakistan believes in peaceful coexistence based on mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“However, it would not remain aloof to the risks of strategic imbalance in the region.”

Aziz called upon the international community to desist from policies and actions that undermine strategic stability in South Asia and pointed out that the supply of weapons system widens the existing conventional capabilities in the region. (TRANSLATION BY ARSHAD SHAHEEN WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP)

Published in The Express Tribune, November 23^rd, 2016.