Onus on India as no change in Pakistan’s position on Kashmir issue: FM Bilawal

GOA: Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, linking any change in Pakistan’s India policy with the reversal of unilateral and illegal actions of August 5, 2019, said the onus was on New Delhi to build a conducive environment for talks, ARY news reported on Friday.

The foreign minister issues these remarks while addressing a press conference following the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) in Goa.

“Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) always advocated the normalisation of ties with India but the Indian unilateral action of revoking a special status of Kashmir had undermined the relationship,” FM Bilawal Bhutto added.

Bilawal Bhutto said that the unilateral actions of August 5, 2019 not only violated international laws and the United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) resolutions but also the bilateral arrangements.

He said the Indian violation had created a trust deficit as India might unilaterally violate the bilateral agreements in the future too.

Asked about the Indian decision of hosting G20 summit in IIOJK, the foreign minister said, “Obviously we condemn it and at the time we will give such a response that it will be remembered.”

“It is a show of Indian arrogance to the world that to hell with international law, to hell with the United Nations Security Council Resolutions, to hell with any bilateral agreements, India will hold their event in Kashmir.”

He also said that India would soon find that “they will be unable to achieve 110 percent attendance because other people will not compromise on their morals.”

To a question, the foreign minister said that without any distinction, the Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar greeted all the foreign ministers the same way which was also identical to the style practised in Sindh and Multan.

He told the media that in 2026, Pakistan would be holding the CFM chair, he hoped that India would take a good step to participate in the summit on the basis of “reciprocal diplomatic agreements”.

He said most of the people both in India and Pakistan wanted to live in peace and achieve development without being held hostage by history.

He said at every CFM, the foreign ministers appreciated the Indian counterpart for fulfilling his responsibilities as CFM chair and also lauded the cultural show hosted by India which represented all member states.

Responding to a query, Bilawal Bhutto said the SCO forum should be used for collective security and urged the member states to work collectively to combat the menace.

‘Let’s not weaponise terrorism for diplomatic point-scoring’

Earlier in the day, FM Bilawal Bhutto – while addressing the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) summit – said that let’s not get caught up in weaponising terrorism for diplomatic-point scoring.

Indian Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar addressed the SCO meeting, in which he highlighted the issue of cross-border terrorism.

Jaishankar said: “While the world was engaged in facing Covid and its consequences, the menace of terrorism continues unabated. Taking our eyes off this menace would be detrimental to our security interests.

Furthermore, the host reiterated his country’s “long-standing” demand that English be made the third official language of the moot. At the moment Russian and Mandarin are the languages used at the form officially.

Addressing the SCO summit, Bilawal Bhutto reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to multilateralism for maintaining international peace and harmony. “Pakistan remains committed to multilateralism and continues to play a leading role at all international forums.”

Reiterating Pakistan’s strong commitment to SCO he said, “There couldn’t be a more powerful indication of the importance that Pakistan attaches to the SCO than my presence here in Goa for this CFM.”

Bilawal asserted the SCO could be a “key platform for taking the vision of Eurasian connectivity to the next level”, the FO said.