NEW DELHI: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif created a flutter by claiming his country had learnt a “lesson” and wanted the UAE’s help to set up a peace talks table with India. A day later, his office in Islamabad tamped down expectations by drawing attention to Sharif’s consistent position that talks with India can only take place after the latter restores Article 370 in Kashmir and reverses its decision of bifurcating J&K in 2019.
India chose not to respond to any of these statements made either by Sharif or his office. In an interview to a Dubai-based Arabic channel on Monday, Sharif said, “I have requested my brother President Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed (who also has good relations with India) that he can play an important role in bringing the two countries to the talking table.” He was in the UAE for bilateral talks with Zayed.
Pakistan, he said, has learnt its lesson and “we want to live in peace provided we are able to resolve our genuine problems....We have three wars with India and it only brought more misery, poverty and unemployment to the people. Want to live in peace with India. My message to the Indian leadership and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is that let us sit down and have serious and sincere talks to resolve our burning issues like Kashmir.”
Sharif added, “We want to alleviate poverty, achieve prosperity, and provide education and health facilities and employment to our people and not waste our resources on bombs and ammunition.” That, he said, was the message he want to give to Modi. “It is up to us to live peacefully and make progress or quarrel with each other, and waste time and resources,” he added.
Interestingly, a joint statement issued by UAE and Pakistan after the bilateral talks made no mention of India. But the UAE had in the past prodded Pakistan to explore peace with India.
Trade relations frozen
Trade ties between Pakistan and India have been frozen since Article 370 was hollowed out in J&K on August 5, 2019. “Without India’s revocation of this step, negotiations are not possible,” the Pakistan prime minister’s office said