“Potrayed incorrectly”: Pakistan clarifies Foreign Minister’s remarks on re-engagement with India
India Today
Pakistan on Friday sought to clarify Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari's strong pitch for re-engaging with New Delhi, asserting that his remarks were "portrayed incorrectly".
Pakistan on Friday said there was no change in its policy towards India, as it sought to clarify Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari's strong pitch for re-engaging with New Delhi, asserting that his remarks were "portrayed incorrectly".
Bilawal on Thursday said cutting ties with India would not serve Pakistan's interests as Islamabad was already “internationally isolated and disengaged”.
Responding to media queries and press reports on Bilawal's remarks, the Foreign Office in a statement said, "There is no change in Pakistan’s policy on India on which there is national consensus. Pakistan has always desired cooperative relations with all its neighbours, including India. We have consistently advocated constructive engagement and result-oriented dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues, including the core Jammu and Kashmir dispute.”
Bilawal's remarks, the statement said, were "interpreted out of context" and "portrayed incorrectly".
Addressing the Founding Day ceremony at the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad, Bilawal had said that engaging with India and especially with its people was in the interest of Pakistan, which was apparently a feeler to test Indian response as Islamabad has been insisting that it would not talk to New Delhi until it reversed its unilateral steps in Kashmir.
“We have our issues with India. Pakistan and India have a long history of war, conflict. Today, where we have serious disputes, the events of August 2019 cannot be taken lightly,” he had said.
The ties between India and Pakistan nose-dived after New Delhi abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019.
