Tokyo: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has ruled out sustenance of peace in South Asia until the region’s core dispute – the dispute of Jammu and Kashmir – is resolved through dialogue and in accordance with UN Security Council Resolutions and the principles of international law.
In his remarks at the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), on the topic ‘Pakistan and Japan in the Asian context’, the foreign minister said that while Pakistan and Japan were situated in different corners of the Asian continent, they shared important convergences in terms of their outlook and vision for the region.
“Pakistan’s position has always been clear: there can be no peace in South Asia until the region’s core dispute – the dispute of Jammu and Kashmir – is resolved through dialogue and in accordance with UN Security Council Resolutions and the principles of international law,” he stressed.
Pakistan has always been ready to work towards such a resolution, he said, adding tragically, Pakistan did not have a partner for peace in South Asia.
The foreign minister said “India is in the grip of a form of religious hysteria that has closed out any space for dialogue and diplomacy.”
While this was expected given the ideology of India’s ruling party, what was surprising – and disappointing, he said, was the silence of the international community on India’s oppression in Kashmir and its provocations against a much smaller neighbor.