US backs direct dialogue between India, Pakistan after Sharif’s statement
A day after Pakistan’s Prime Minster, Sharif proposed “conditional” talks with India, Pakistan’s arch-enemy, the US said it supported direct negotiations between the nuclear-armed neighbours of South Asia.
Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan, said on Tuesday that he was ready to resume bilateral talks with India.
“As we have long said, we support direct dialogue between India and Pakistan on issues of concern. That has long been our position,” State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a press conference.
Miller was responding to a query from a Pakistani journalist who wanted an opinion on a recent statement made by Shehbaz Sharif, in which he allegedly said that Pakistan is ready to talk with India about bilateral issues, provided India is prepared to address serious matters.
Sharif made the remarks during a gathering to attract international investment to the cash-strapped country. The Pakistani prime minister reportedly made an apparent reference to India when he said, “We are prepared to talk with everyone, even with our neighbour, provided that the neighbour is serious to talk serious matters on the table.”
His remarks came as relations between the two countries strained on various problems, notably Islamabad’s ongoing backing for transnational terrorism and the Kashmir dispute.
As soon as New Delhi ended Kashmir’s unique status as an Indian-administrated region in 2019, Pakistan’s diplomatic relations with India deteriorated. The designation granted the disputed Himalayan region—which Pakistan also claims—some degree of autonomy.
The two countries have engaged in two of their three wars since gaining independence from British rule in 1947 over Kashmir.
“We are prepared to talk with everyone, even with our neighbour, provided that the neighbour is serious about talking about serious matters on the table because war is no more an option,” Sharif said.
Sharif on Tuesday said the two nations should look ahead, adding that the three wars in the past and ongoing animosity have caused only more poverty and impacted the well-being of their people.
“We have to adopt or to have an economic competition because God forbid if there is a nuclear flashpoint. Who will live to tell what happened? So that is not an option at all,” he said, adding that India must understand the risks.
Following a similar remark made in January when on a visit to the United Arab Emirates, Sharif had reached out to India for the second time this year.
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