India links peace with Pakistan with ‘terror-free atmosphere’

ISLAMABAD – India says it has always given ‘primacy to regional peace’ but linked normalising ties with Pakistan with some conditions.

New Delhi has responded days after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stressed maintaining healthy ties with the neighbouring country.

In response to the premier’s remarks, the Modi-led government has yet again set a condition before resuming talks with Islamabad. Indian external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, in a routine presser, responds to development, saying New Delhi ‘aspires to secure normal ties with Pakistan’ but linked it with a ‘conducive environment which does not support terrorism’.

Terror, hostility, or violence keep India far from maintaining ties with the neighbouring nation, he said.

As New Delhi linked terror-free atmosphere for peace talks, BJP led government is using all tactics for state-sponsored terrorism in Pakistan by proxy.

Pakistan even unveiled a couple of dossiers, based on intelligence, which detailed evidence showing Modi-led government used terrorism to undermine Pakistan.

The recent development comes days after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asked Narendra Modi to hold ‘sincere talks’ to resolve the burning issues including Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

Pakistani PM calls for dialogue to resolve Kashmir issue

Amid the simmering tensions between the two nuclear-armed nations, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif recently offered an olive branch to New Delhi, asking his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to resolve Kashmir and other issues through dialogue.

Sharif, in his message this week, called on Indian premier Narendra Modi to join him at the discussion table to resolve burning issues like Kashmir. Pakistan and India have to live with each other as neighbors, he said, stressing to end conflicts as according to him the neighboring nations are wasting time and resources in an ongoing tussle.

Recalling multiple wars with archrival nations, the PM said the conflict brought nothing good to any side but misery, and poverty. He then stressed focusing on ending poverty, and providing education and health to the masses rather than spending resources on bombs and ammunition.

Shehbaz said who will live to tell what happened, if God forbid a battle starts as both sides are nuclear powers.

Besides offering peace, the premier also mentioned the plights of Kashmiris in his interview, pointing out human rights violations in Indian-occupied Kashmir.

He mentioned that minorities were being persecuted under Modi-led government, calling on Indian authorities to end atrocities in the disputed valley.

The premier also mentioned UAE, and Saudi leaders playing their role to bring two sides together.