Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif clarified his stance on initiating talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss important issues like Kashmir and said talks will be possible only after reversal of abrogation of Article 370.

India abrogated Article 370 on August 5, 2019 ending the special status that Jammu and Kashmir enjoyed for several decades. Pakistan has decried the move since.Union minister G Kishen Reddy in 2021 said that the move was made to fully integrate the peoples of Jammu and Kashmir into the mainstream of the nation.However, Shehbaz Sharif’s office on Tuesday clarified its stance on the ‘unconditional offer’ for peace talks and said: “Without India’s revocation of this step, negotiations are not possible.”

Sharif, in a recent interview with UAE-based Al-Arabiya said: “My message to the Indian leadership and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is that let us sit down on the table and have serious and sincere talks to resolve our burning issues like Kashmir.”

The Pakistan Prime Minister said since India and Pakistan are neighbours there is no choice but to work with each other to resolve longstanding issues.

“It is up to us to live peacefully and make progress or quarrel with each other, and waste time and resources. We have had three wars with India and it only brought more misery, poverty and unemployment to the people. We have learned our lesson and we want to live in peace, provided we are able to resolve our genuine problems,” Sharif told Al-Arabiya.

He also floated the idea that the UAE could play an important role in bringing both countries together to the table. Sharif said that the talks would be held with ‘sincerity of purpose.’Sharif said that his message to his counterpart was that his party does not want to spend funds on ammunition and bombs but wants to alleviate poverty and end unemployment.Sharif’s message may have angered India hawks and hardliners in Pakistan but it is important to note that the remarks come at a time when Pakistan is facing both political and economical uncertainty and also seeing a rise in terrorism.

Pakistan almost defaulted on its debt, owed to international lenders and required assistance from the UAE and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order to continue its import of essential items, an energy crunch has also paralyzed the nation, Sharif’s main contender former prime minister Imran Khan is breathing down his neck demanding snap polls and the regions bordering Afghanistan have become a hotbed for terror due to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

(with inputs from the Dawn)

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