Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said Islamabad wants to resolve all issues with India, "including Kashmir", through talks.
While addressing a special session of the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) legislative assembly in Muzaffarabad on "Kashmir Solidarity Day", Sharif said that India should fulfill the promises made to the United Nations and start a dialogue.
An annual Pakistani event, 'Kashmir Solidarity Day', is arranged to show solidarity for the Kashmiris.
"We want all issues, including Kashmir, to be resolved through talks," Sharif said.
The Pakistani PM further said, "India should come out of the thinking of August 5, 2019, and fulfill promises made to the UN and launch a dialogue." His remark was in reference to the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, that took away the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcate the state into two Union Territories.
'Peace is the way to progress'
Just as the Lahore Declaration of 1999, which the then Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee agreed on during his visit to Pakistan, said, "the only course open for Islamabad and New Delhi was a 'dialogue'.
Significantly, India too has often reaffirmed that it wants normal neighborly relations with Pakistan in a terror-free, hostility-free, and violence-free environment.
New Delhi has informed Pakistan that the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh "was, is and shall forever" remain an integral part of the nation.
The ties between India and Pakistan had suffered another blow after Article 370 was abrogated.
In addition to this, the Pakistani prime minister accused India of cumulating weapons and said that collecting arms will not bring peace or change in the fate of people of Kashmir. He urged New Delhi to be wise, saying that peace was the path to progress.
"Pakistan will continue to offer its unwavering moral, diplomatic and political support to the Kashmiri people till the realization of their right to self-determination," he said, adding that, "The only solution to the Kashmir issue is the right of self-determination under the UNSC resolution."
Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Sharif requested the international community to force India to let Kashmiris "freely determine their future for lasting peace in the region".
PoK "prime minister" Anwarul Haq claimed that Pakistan was the final destination for Kashmiris, saying that peace would not be possible until the resolution of Kashmir issue.
At the event, chairman joint chiefs of staff committee, the service chiefs, and the Pakistan armed forces also reiterated their support for the people of Kashmir.
