Pak identifies ‘eight issues’ for meaningful, sustained dialogue with India

ISLAMABAD - Responding to New Delhi’s overture, Pakistan has said that it wants a sustained and meaningful dialogue with India, and has identified ‘eight issues’ for discussions, which also include the Kashmir issue and water disputes.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Abdul Basit welcomed India’s proposal, saying it is the only way forward for resolving issues between both countries.

In an interview with private television channel, Basit described the recent proposal by India of holding foreign secretary level talks as a ‘positive’ move, and said Islamabad always wanted result-oriented engagements with India to discuss a number of issues, including terrorism.

Basit stressed that terrorism alone can not be made a subject of discussion between two countries, as there are plenty of issues which also needed to be resolved amicably.

“If the Indians think this is possible, it would not be an appropriate approach to restart the engagement,” The Daily Times quoted Basit, as saying.

Earlier, Pakistan High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik met Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and said that Islamabad wants Kashmir and other bilateral issues to be included in dialogue with India.

Addressing the media after holding a meeting with Foreign Secretary for nearly an hour, Malik said:

“We are not going to shy away on the issue of terrorism. We will discuss it, as we also have issues related to terrorism.”

He also said that Pakistan would raise the Kashmir issue with India on every forum possible.

On Thursday, India had proposed foreign secretary level talks with Pakistan, and said a key issue that could be discussed during the talks would be counter-terrorism.

According to sources, India would approach the talks with a positive frame of mind to create an atmosphere of peace and stability in the region. (ANI)