Ready to engage with India for peace: PM

ASTANA: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said that Pakistan is willing to engage conditionally with India for peace and prosperity of the region.

“Onus remains on India to take necessary steps to engage towards the result-oriented solutions of all the outstanding issues,” he said. Addressing at the 6th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana, Shehbaz said Pakistan desired peaceful relations with all its neighbours, including India.

PM Shehbaz stressed the people deserved the resources to be diverted to their education and health. “I want to leave behind a legacy of peace and progress for coming generations of our region,” he said. “Pakistan’s first priority at the moment is to revive rapid and equitable economy”.

Shehbaz urged other countries to take notice of India’s ‘bullet over ballot’ policy as it blatantly quashed the United Nations Security Council’s resolutions on holding a plebiscite in Kashmir. “India has become a threat to its minorities, neighbours and the entire region,” he said.

Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan was “absolutely ready and willing for a discussion with Indian counterparts to promote trade and investment provided they showed sincerity of purpose”.

The prime minister highlighted India’s unabated atrocities in Jammu and Kashmir for the last seven decades, where he said the Kashmiris faced continued denial of their right to self-determination.

He strongly favoured peaceful dialogue in resolving conflicts with other countries, including the neighbouring India, in a bid to achieve the goal of prosperity. “We are willing to engage with India for the sake of prosperity and development as both sides of the border cannot afford to deal with massive challenges of poverty and unemployment amid meagre resources,” he said.

The prime minister’s speech focused on peace among nations to hit the goal of prosperity. He addressed leaders of the multinational forum, gathered to discuss cooperation towards promoting peace, security and stability in Asia.

On Afghanistan, Shehbaz said the four decades of conflict not only took a heavy toll on the country but also upon its neighbouring Pakistan, which suffered immense damage to its peace and security with serious consequences borne in the shape of 80,000 casualties and billions of dollars financial losses.

The prime minister expressed satisfaction that after immense sacrifices, Pakistan had now become able to control extremism and terrorism on its soil besides managing to host four million Afghan refugees. “A prosperous and stable Afghanistan is not only in the interest of Pakistan, but also the international community,” he said.

Shehbaz Sharif called for pooling resources among the regional countries to address the common challenges in the interest of peace and progress. “If we team up our resources, Asia can stand with pride and achievement,” he said. “Through constructive dialogue, we can build mutual trust.”

He mentioned Pakistan’s location offering a natural bridge among various economies of the region. In this regard, he highlighted the multi-billion dollar project of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which had transformed the economic and connectivity landscape of the region.

He also invited the CICA member states to consider benefiting from trade, investment and business opportunities offered by Pakistan. On the recent floods in Pakistan, the prime minister pointed out that the country was bearing the brunt of climate change despite its less than one percent carbon emissions.

He thanked the countries that stepped forward in extending assistance to Pakistan to carry out the relief and rehabilitation activities in the flood-affected areas. He also appreciated the $816 million flash appeal by the United Nations launched to meet the daunting challenge of heavy losses incurred by flash floods.

The prime minister expressed confidence that Pakistan was “determined and committed” to emerge stronger after the flood disaster. “Pakistan, with the support of its people and the friendly countries, will come out of this problem,” he said.

The prime minister in his speech deliberated upon the Palestine dispute, stressing a peaceful way to its resolution for ensuring peace in the Middle East and the region. He also elaborated the significance of CICA as a unique forum for promoting interaction, understanding, and collaboration among the countries across Asia.

Earlier, PM Sharif, on his arrival at the Palace of Independence, the venue of CICA summit, was warmly welcomed by Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The prime minister along with other heads of state and government also had a group photograph before the summit was opened.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held meetings with several heads of state and government on the sidelines of the 6th Summit of the CICA. Shehbaz, in a meeting with President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, discussed issues of bilateral interest, including trade, investment and people-to-people contacts.

About his meeting with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the prime minister in a tweet said, “We built on our discussions during SCO [Shanghai Cooperation Organization] last month. Grateful to the president for his offer of support to help Pakistan meet the need for urea in view of challenges during coming sowing season.”

He met President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and highlighted his desire to promote peace, cooperation, and security in Asia. Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb termed the meeting “meaningful interactive bilateral engagement.”

PM Shehbaz Sharif also met Vietnamese Vice President Nguyen Thi Anh Xuan and discussed matters of bilateral interest. In a meeting with President Emomali Rahmon, the premier, highlighting the importance of promoting connectivity in the region, reiterated Pakistan’s readiness to provide access to Tajikistan to Gwadar and Karachi ports. The prime minister emphasised the expansion of cooperation in the field of road, transport and air links.

The two leaders agreed on cementing high-level contacts, inter-parliamentary ties and technical level meetings to promote substantive cooperation. The prime minister underscored the need to boost cooperation in the energy sector. It was agreed to work together for early completion of CASA 1000 project, which would be a harbinger of future energy corridors with Central Asia.

PM Sharif updated the Tajik President on the rehabilitation work being undertaken by his government in the aftermath of catastrophic floods in the country. He stressed the need to make joint efforts to cope with the rising threat of climate change induced natural disasters.

President Emomali Rahmon assured PM Sharif of Tajikistan’s continued support in this regard, including dispatch of an additional convoy of trucks carrying essential flood-relief items.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif left Astana for home after concluding his two-day visit to Kazakhstan, where he participated in the 6th summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA).

The prime minister, along with delegation, was seen off by Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Yerulan Zhamaubayev at the Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport.