Pakistan on Friday said it would welcome facilitation by the United States to break the stalemate with India on the longstanding Kashmir dispute.
“Regarding the Pakistan–India relations and the facilitation by third parties, including the United States, Pakistan has always said that we would welcome the international community to play their role in promoting peace in the region including in facilitating dialogue and resolution of the core dispute between Pakistan and India i.e. the Jammu and Kashmir dispute,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told reporters at weekly briefing in Islamabad.
She was responding to a question about the recent statement made by Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Masood Khan, who spoke about the possible role by the US on the resolution of Kashmir dispute.
Washington in the past did play a role to ease tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. The 2003 ceasefire understanding was brokered by the then Bush administration in order to allow Musharraf regime to focus on the war on terror.
Of late, however, the US follows a more cautious approach and avoids getting involved directly in the Pakistan-India tensions.
To a question about the possible visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2021, the spokesperson said the Foreign Office would not comment on speculative reports.
Meanwhile, at the invitation of president of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will attend the Forum’s annual meeting from January 16-20, 2023 in Davos, Switzerland. The foreign minister will be accompanied by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar.
