Pakistan wants comprehensive dialogue with India: Sartaj Aziz

Adviser hopes recent meeting between foreign secretaries of two countries will pave the way for talks

ISLAMABAD: Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said Pakistan wants restoration of comprehensive dialogue with India for resolving all outstanding disputes, Radio Pakistan reported on Sunday.

Addressing the media in Islamabad, Sartaj said issues including longstanding Kashmir dispute will be discussed when the dialogue process will be resumed between the two countries.

The adviser hoped that the recent meeting held between foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India will pave the way for talks on different issues.

He said there is a trust deficit between the two countries and that things will move forward after the trust is restored.

Sartaj added that the country is facing the challenge of terrorism and efforts are being made to eliminate this menace.

"The entire nation is united in the war against terrorism," he said.

The adviser also said that both the political and military leadership are on one page on important national issues.

On March 8, the United States said it is ‘encouraged’ by the resumption of talks between the two countries. At a daily news briefing, US State Department spokesperson Marie Harf said Washington ‘certainly welcomed the visit’ to Pakistan this week by India’s Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

Read: US welcomes resumption of Pak-India dialogue

“We certainly were encouraged that they decided to resume dialogue and obviously believe that both India and Pakistan stand to benefit from practical cooperation and an improved relationship, which I think would be good for regional peace and stability in South Asia,” Harf told reporters in Washington DC.

“In general, obviously, we [the US] think cooperation is a good thing,” she added.