ISLAMABAD: Hina Rabbani Khar informed the Senate there was currently no backchannel diplomacy occurring between Pakistan and India, maintaining that talks with the neighbouring nation could only take place after New Delhi reversed the August 2019 revocation of the semi-autonomous status of occupied Kashmir.
The statement of the deputy foreign minister follows an invite from India to Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial to attend the foreign ministers’ and chief justices’ meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), scheduled for May. Pakistan has not yet responded to the invite.
Last week, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had asked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to hold serious and sincere talks to resolve burning issues, including Kashmir, and appealed to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) leadership to play an important role in bringing India and Pakistan to the table.
During the Senate session, Khar said that backchannel diplomacy should only take place when it is result-oriented. She pointed out that Pakistan had always taken initiatives to promote peace, but India’s cross-border hostility was of a unique type, as highlighted by the BBC documentary on Modi.
Khar also said that international forums frequently request Pakistan for the normalization of relations with India. In response, she emphasized that these requests should be met with consideration of the aggressive messages received from India.
She went on to express that Pakistan has a strong interest in promoting regional potential, but the hostile statements made by Indian government officials, such as regarding the use of nuclear weapons, hinder progress towards positive relations.
During the session, Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) Senator Danesh Kumar praised the Kartarpur Corridor and suggested promoting religious tourism between Pakistan and India by highlighting the ancient Hinglaj Mata temple located in Balochistan.
He noted that the temple, which is over 5,000 years old, has significance for Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India as well. The senator expressed hope that promoting this archaeological site would improve the social circumstances of the people in the coastal area and asked Khar to take a similar peace-building initiative as the Kartarpur Corridor.
In response, Khar welcomed the suggestion and said that Pakistan has always played a leading role in executing peace-building projects and will continue to do so. She also mentioned that Pakistan is open to exploring the proposal in detail and projecting such initiatives.
She acknowledged that the current hostility from the other side of the border is unique to the current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in India.
The minister also emphasized the importance of maintaining a peaceful border and continuing engagement through various platforms. She highlighted that Pakistan has always learned from its history and does not believe in generating more bloodshed in conflicts, as it is not in the interest of the region.
She mentioned that the directors general of Military Operations of both sides had recently reached an agreement on a ceasefire, however, in the past, India had violated a 2003 ceasefire agreement 13,500 times resulting in the death of 310 citizens and injuring at least 1,600.
Despite this, she expressed hope that the latest agreement would substantially decrease cross-border incidents and Pakistan would continue the “journey to peace.”
