Monitoring Report
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit on Monday said that Pakistan is ready for a dialogue with India on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia conference in Amritsar next week, India Today reported. The envoy was speaking to Indian TV channel Aaj Tak.
‘The schedule of Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz is not cast in stone and if there was an offer for talks from the host nation, then it would be accepted by Pakistan,’ Abdul Basit was quoted as saying.
The envoy urged for resumption of dialogue process between the two countries and said, ‘We can delay talks for months or even for years. But ultimately, a solution to the problems between India and Pakistan can only come through dialogue, and therefore, both nations must sit and discuss all the issues that confront them.’
While commenting on tensions at India-Pakistan border, Basit said, ‘Escalation along the Line of Control is not in Pakistan’s as well as India’s interest.’
‘We would like that hostilities along the Line of Control (LoC) come to an end and that the 2003 ceasefire understanding is turned into a formal agreement between India and Pakistan,’ Basit asserted.
Last month, Sartaj Aziz had confirmed that Pakistan will be attending the upcoming Heart of Asia conference scheduled to be held in India.
Earlier in the year in September, India decided against taking part in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit which was supposed to be held in Islamabad Pakistan.
