Pakistan on Friday again invoked the Kashmir dispute and said that it would welcome any help from the US or any other country towards the resolution of the decades-long issue.
Responding to a question about
the US’ interest in the Kashmir issue during his weekly briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said that Islamabad will welcome the help from any country that can help stabilise the situation, news agency PTI reported.
“About the US’ interest in settlement of the Kashmir issue, we welcome help not only from the US but any country which can help stabilise the situation and move towards resolution of the Kashmir dispute, which is at the heart of issues of peace and security in South Asia. We will welcome that,” Khan said as quoted by the news agency.
Meanwhile, India maintains that it does not want any third-party involvement in its discussions with Pakistan. The Simla Agreement signed between the two countries in 1972 rejects any third-party mediation on the Kashmir dispute.
Further responding to a question about any contact between Islamabad and New Delhi to resolve issues after the four-day conflict in May during operation Sindoor, Khan said there was no such contact.
“Our overall diplomatic position is well known. We want to take the route of diplomacy, but it is the Indian side which has to make up its mind. And so far, there are no contacts between our two sides, except for the routine diplomatic contact,” he said.
India has made it clear that it will only have a dialogue with Pakistan on the return of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the issue of terrorism.
In one of the biggest attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, Lashkar-linked terrorists opened fire on a group of tourists in Pahalgam on Tuesday, April 22, killing at least 26 people, including foreign tourists, and injuring many others. The Resistance Front (TRF), a Lashkar offshoot, claimed responsibility for the attack.
India responded with Operation Sindoor on May 7, bombing nine terrorist camps across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in pre-dawn strikes that killed at least 100 militants. The operation sparked four days of cross-border fighting involving fighter jets, missiles and artillery.
(With inputs from PTI)
