Disputes with India should be settled peacefully through talks: Pak Army chief

Pakistan Army chief General Javed Bajwa on Saturday said that the disputes with India should be settled peacefully through dialogue, adding that Islamabad believed in using diplomacy to resolve all issues including Kashmir, news agency PTI reported.

“With one-third of the world in the Gulf region and elsewhere involved in some sort of conflict and war, it is important that we keep the flames of fire away from our region,” Bajwa said on the last day of the two-Day Islamabad Security Dialogue.

“Pakistan continues to believe in using dialogue and diplomacy to resolve all outstanding issues including the Kashmir dispute and is ready to move forward on this front if India agrees to do so,” he added.

Bajwa’s remarks come days after prime minister Imran Khan in his address to the nation said he wanted an independent foreign policy for Pakistan but not the one which does not promote enmity with any nation.

“I decided that my foreign policy will be independent. An independent foreign policy is one which is meant for Pakistanis. It doesn’t mean we are anyone’s enemies. It doesn’t mean we will be anti-Americans, anti-India or anti-European.” Khan had said.

“I believe it is time for the political leadership of the region to rise above their emotional and perceptual biases and break the shackles of history to bring peace and prosperity to almost three billion people of the region,” the Pakistan Army chief said, while suggesting a trilateral dialogue between India, Pakistan and China.

The Pakistan Army chief also spoke on the incident when India’s accidental missile fell in the Mian Channu area of Khanewal district on March 9. “We expect India to provide evidence to assure Pakistan and the world that their weapons are safe and secure.Unlike other incidents involving strategic weapons systems, this is the first time in history that a supersonic cruise missile from one nuclear-armed nation has landed in another,” he said.

Bajwa’s statement comes at a time when Pakistan is witnessing a political turmoil as the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) alliance government headed by prime minister Imran Khan faces a no-confidence vote in the 342-member Pakistan National Assembly on Sunday.