Pakistani High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit on Thursday said that Pakistan intends to improve its ties with India.
While attending a flag-hoisting ceremony on Pakistan’s National Day at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, Basit congratulated Pakistanis celebrating the day with national zeal and fervour.
“Pakistan is keen to settle all the issues with India, including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, through dialogue,” he said while speaking during the event in the Indian capital.
The Pakistani envoy was of the view that maintaining peace in the region was in the mutual interest of both the countries. Lasting peace could only be achieved through meaningful talks, he added.
Basit, however, also stressed that Pakistan’s desire to hold a constructive dialogue with India should not be taken as a weakness as “our positions on bilateral issues are rooted in principles and international law”.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the border, President Mamnoon Hussain also said that Pakistan wanted peaceful and friendly relations with India and termed the Kashmir issue an “unfinished agenda of the subcontinent’s partition.”
The president also regretted that the irresponsible attitude of India and continuous violations of the ceasefire by Indian forces at the Line of Control (LoC) and Working Boundary (WB) had put peace in the region at risk.
“Pakistan is ready to hold negotiations with India and also wants to resolve the issue of Kashmir in accordance with the resolutions of United Nations,” he added.