ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold serious and sincere talks to resolve pressing issues, including Kashmir, and stated that the leadership of the United Arab Emirates could play a significant role in bringing India and Pakistan to the table.
“Let us sit down on the table and have serious and sincere talks to resolve our burning issues like Kashmir,” the prime minister said in an interview with Al Arabiya. This was his message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian leadership.
“Every day in Kashmir, flagrant violations of human rights take place.”
The Prime Minister stated that India had usurped any semblance of autonomy granted to Kashmiris by Article 370 of the Indian Constitution as the autonomy was revoked in August 2019.
He said that minorities in India were being persecuted, and India needed to end this to show the world that it was ready for serious negotiations.
“Let us sit down on the table and have serious, sincere talks,” Shehbaz tells Modi in an interview. India and Pakistan had to live together because they were neighbors, Mr. Shehbaz reminded the world. We have the option of arguing and wasting time and resources, or we can choose peace and progress. The misery, poverty, and unemployment of the people only got worse as a result of our three wars with India. We’ve learned our lesson, and as long as we can resolve our real problems, we want to live in peace. I want to convey this message to PM Modi: Instead of wasting resources on bombs and ammunition, we want to end poverty, achieve prosperity, provide education, health care, and jobs for our people.”
“We are nuclear powers, armed to the teeth, and who will live to tell the tale if a war breaks out, if God forbid,” he stated.
He asserted that Saudi Arabia was a friendly and brotherly nation with distinctive brotherly ties that had been in place for a long time.
He recalled that millions of Muslims had visited Medina and Makkah prior to India’s creation of Pakistan. These Muslims frequented Saudi Arabia due to their brotherly ties.
The PM claimed that he had successfully visited Pakistan while serving as prime minister and that the UAE was a second home for millions of Pakistanis. He stated that Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed was a close brother who was a staunch Pakistani supporter and wished for the advancement and prosperity of Pakistani citizens. Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan, who was also a great friend of Pakistan, had Pakistan ingrained in his soul.
“The governments of Pakistan and the Gulf countries have made the decision to collaborate in the areas of culture and trade, to promote Islam as a religion of peace, and to avoid all forms of terrorism. “We are working together as strategic partners,” he continued.
Pakistan’s difficulties, according to the prime minister, would not have diminished without the tangible and substantial support of Saudi Arabia and the brotherly Gulf states, who were dependable partners. He said that Pakistan’s tenacity and bravery would allow it to stand on its own.
