Peace process revival: The ball is now in India’s court, says Aizaz Chaudhry

NEW YORK:

Pakistan desires peaceful relations in South Asia but after New Delhi’s unilateral cancellation of talks with Islamabad, the ball is now in India’s court for revival of the peace process, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry said here on Friday.

He also revealed to journalists during a briefing that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will speak about the decades-old Jammu and Kashmir dispute in his address to the UN General Assembly.

Islamabad believes that as part of its core policy Kashmiris should have the right to self-determination, he said. The foreign secretary, who is part of the delegation headed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, also cleared that Pakistan is not part of the international coalition being cobbled to fight Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militants.

“If the Indians are interested in a meeting, we expect them to approach us.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 27^th, 2014.