Islamabad, Pakistan (CU)_ Following Pakistan PM, Pakistan’s military chief also stated that it is time to forget the past, and that India must build a conducive atmosphere for substantive dialogue. During the first Islamabad Security Dialogue conference in the capital Islamabad, Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa stated, “We feel it is time to bury the past and move forward. Our neighbor will have to create a conducive environment, particularly in occupied Kashmir.”
He added, “The Kashmir issue is obviously at the heart of this. It is important to understand that without the resolution of the Kashmir dispute through peaceful means, process of sub-continental rapprochement will always remain susceptible to derailment due to politically motivated bellicosity”.
Bajwa told the participants that in spite of living in a hostile and insecure neighborhood, the defense expense of the country has come down rather than increased. However, he explained saying, “his offer was not as a result of any pressure but his sincere desire to recast the Pakistan’s image as a peace-loving nation.”
After Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan urged India to initiate the first step towards peace by settling the Kashmir conflict in line with UN Security Council resolutions, the army chief stated his remarks. Khan said that his government attempted to settle all pending issues with India through dialogue from the beginning, including Kashmir, but that no cooperation was shown by the New Delhi and that it went in the opposite direction.
For the country’s long-term stability and economic development, the army chief presented a four-point strategy. He said, “Non-interference of any kind in the internal affairs of our neighboring regional countries, boosting intra-regional trade and connectivity for bringing sustainable development and prosperity through establishment of investment and economic hubs, within the region.”
He went on to say that a secure relation between India and Pakistan is the key to open up the untapped potential of South and Central Asia, by guaranteeing connection between East and West Asia. He added, “The potential has forever remained hostage to the disputes and issues between two nuclear neighbors. But we are ready to improve our environment by resolving all our outstanding issues with our neighbors, through dialogue in a dignified and peaceful manner”.
