Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday praised the British Government’s continuous support to resolve outstanding issues between Pakistan and India.
He was speaking to British Foreign Secretary William Hague who paid a courtesy call and discussed various issues of mutual interest with Nawaz.
Nawaz said that more than six decades of mutual mistrust between the two countries resulted in enhanced defence spending at the expense of their social sectors.
This tit for tat policy must end now so that conditions of the people of the two countries could be ameliorated. He stated that Pakistan was keen to resolve all outstanding issues with India through dialogue.
However, he said that resolution of Kashmir issue was possible only when all the three stakeholders—Pakistan, India, and Kashmiris – were onboard.
The Prime Minister further said that Pakistan wanted peace in Afghanistan and was ready to offer all possible support in this regard. He also emphasized on the need of effective border management system between Pakistan and Afghanistan so that the issue of cross border infiltration could be addressed.
Hague welcomed Pakistan’s approach of reconciliation towards resolving all outstanding issues with India and Afghanistan through dialogue and said that he was impressed by Pakistan’s efforts to create enabling environment for negotiations.