Pakistan seeks dialogue on Kashmir

Pakistan’s top diplomat Sartaj Aziz said on Friday that Islamabad would soon write to New Delhi for talks on Kashmir.

Addressing a news conference here, Mr Aziz, adv-iser to the Prime Minister on foreign affairs, said foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry would send a letter to his Indian counterpart, S. Jaishankar, for a dialogue over the Kashmir dispute.

Mr Aziz said that under the decisions made during this month’s “Envoys Conference” in Islamabad, foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry would formally be writing to his Indian counterpart for a dialogue on Kashmir.

The adviser said that the “Envoys Conference” had deliberated for three days on major foreign policy challenges in Pakistan and made recommendations that were then presented to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on August 3.

“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government wan-ted to resolve the Kashmir issue and we are prepared to work on this,” he added.

He said that the envoys held in-depth discussions on global and regional issues and agreed that the key elements of the foreign policy of Pakistan were pointing in the correct direction.

“The broad framework of our foreign policy included, building a peaceful neighbourhood, regional connectivity, trade and not aid, economic diplomacy promoting the potential and welfare of Pakistani diaspora, enhancing Pakistan’s image abroad,” he said.

The adviser said that the envoys noted that in the face of phenomenal changes on the global and regional scene, new alignments were taking shape.

“Pakistan and China’s collaboration on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor and our reaching out to Central Asian countries and connectivity to Eurasian landmass were opening new vistas of connectivity, economic opportunities and prosperity,” he said.

Mr Aziz said that Pakistan was concerned over India’s policy of not engaging in a comprehensive dialogue with Pakis-tan as it was not conducive to peace in South Asia.

To a question, the adviser said that Kashmir would be on top of the agenda for Pakistan during the forthcoming session of the UN General Assembly.