‘We don’t believe in perpetual hostility’: Pakistan minister calls for ‘sober reflection’ on India-Pak relations

Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said that the country always sought “good neighbourly relations” with India. He called for sober reflection on the India-Pakistan relationship that has historically been marred by tension. He said Pakistan does not believe in “perpetual hostility” with India. 

Dar was addressing a seminar at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) when he sent the “positive message” to New Delhi. The 74-year-old Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader said, “To our east, the relationship with India has historically remained troubled. Pakistan does not believe in perpetual hostility. We seek good neighbourly relations with India on the basis of mutual respect, sovereign equality, and a just and peaceful resolution of the long-standing Jammu and Kashmir dispute.”

Pakistan has always been receptive to constructive engagement through dialogue but would not agree to “unilateral approaches or attempts to impose India’s will or hegemony”, he said. Dar said Pakistan would take all the necessary steps to maintain strategic stability in South Asia and would “respond effectively and decisively to any ill-considered military misadventure by the ‘Hindutva’ driven dispensation in New Delhi”.

He urged the BJP government to have a reflection of India’s ties with Pakistan. “In our view, as the BJP-led NDA government starts a new term, it is time for a sober reflection on the future of India-Pakistan relations and the cross-cutting issues affecting the entire region,” Dar said.

Referring to the revocation of Article 370 that granted special status and autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir, Dar said, “India’s illegal and unilateral actions of August 5, 2019, had adversely affected the environment of bilateral relations”. He said it is up to India to create an enabling environment for purposeful engagement. 

Dar insisted on cooperation between South Asian nations, and said rather than fighting it would be prudent to combat challenges like poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, disease, food insecurity, water scarcity, natural disasters, environmental degradation, climate change together. 

He also called China Pakistan’s most-trusted and reliable friend. “Our all-weather strategic cooperative partnership with China is the cornerstone of Pakistan’s foreign policy,” he added.