Cornered by India’s diplomatic blitz, Pakistan says ready for unconditional talks to resolve all issues

Islamabad: After India claimed diplomatic victory over Pakistan at the United Nations amid deteriorating bilateral ties following the killing of 18 soldiers in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif`s Adviser on Foreign AffairsSartaj Aziz said that Islamabad is ready for unconditional talks with New Delhi to resolve all issues, including Kashmir.

While talking to a television channel, Aziz, however, said that any talks between the two countries cannot succeed till the resolution of the Kashmir issue, reports Radio Pakistan.

He insisted that Sharif had forcefully raised the Kashmir issue at the United Nations.

Asserting that the international community has accepted that Kashmir is a “disputed territory”, he said that the pressure is now mounting on India.

Sharif raised the Kashmir bogey at the UNGA calling Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani a “young leader murdered” by the Indian forces.

He also said Pakistan will continue to support voices in Kashmir for self-determination and called on the UN Security Council to hold a free and fair plebiscite.

On Thursday, India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup told reporters that India was “sensitising the world” about how Pakistan was sponsoring terrorism.

“Our actions speak for themselves and you can see our actions are already delivering results,” Swarup said, a day after Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif aggressively raised the Kashmir issue in his speech at the UN General Assembly in New York.

The spokesperson said most countries have condemned Sunday’s terror attack at Uri near the Line of Control (LoC) — the de facto border between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir.

“No one, and I mean no other country, at the UN has spoken on the subject Nawaz Sharif devoted 80 percent of his time to,” Swarup said.

He said that, on the contrary, virtually every country has referred to terrorism as the main threat to international peace and security, a fact that Pakistan still remains in denial of.

Bureau Report