Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, said that only way to resolve all outstanding issues including Kashmir is ‘talks’ and war is not an option.
Addressing a conference on Saturday ‘Future of Pakistan 2017’ at the London School of Economics South Asia Centre, Abbasi described Kashmir as a “core issue” and said relations with India will remain tense until that is resolved.on Saturday
Abbasi said “Kashmir is the core issue with India. Until that is resolved, Pakistan-India relations will remain tense. We are always open to talks at any level and talks are the way forward. War is not an option,”.
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Highlighting India’s Cold Start Doctrine among recent developments, Abbasi said Pakistan had a “deterrent” in place.
“We have a deterrent to that (Cold Start Doctrine) but I don’t think deterrents where both sides are nuclear powers is a solution to any problem. The only solution is continued talks,” the Pakistani leader noted.
As both the countries are preparing for election, Pakistan next year and India the year after, he expressed little hope of any significant movement with talks.
“Any expectation of a great initiative is probably misplaced,” Abbasi said.
He also dismissed any support for the concept of an independent Kashmir on the ground while addressing questions from students at the LSE conference on Saturday.
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“I have not seen support for that concept (independent Kashmir). This is something that is floated often but it really has no basis in reality. The solution lies with the Security Council resolution that the people are given the right of determination,” he said.
The keynote address by him at the conference was that the world must acknowledge Pakistan as the country fighting “the largest war on terror in the world”.
“Pakistan is fighting terror for the world and we are committed to fighting this menace,” he asserted.
