Pakistan believes violence in Indian-held Kashmir is terrorism

“There is a difference between freedom movement and terrorism,” said the minister while clarifying Pakistan’s stance over Kashmir.

Khan indirectly reminded his Indian counterpart, Rajnath Singh, that a six-decade-old blame game would not help Pakistan or India and insisted, “Instead of blaming each other, we must adopt the policy of dialogues” on the Kashmir conflict.

He urged on the final day of Saarc conference in the federal capital that Pakistan was always an advocate of peaceful settlement of issues of the region and that too without any compulsion.

The interior minister said that the South-Asian region was facing multifaceted challenges and pinned hope the Saarc platform would be fruitful in tackling those.

“South-Asian region has to deal militancy, terrorism, social injustice, corruption and organised crimes. These are the issues that have hindered our socio-economic development since years,” said Khan.

He wished the regional organisation would move forward and achieve bigger goals for reliable peace and stability in South-Asia.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also addressed the participants of the conference and lauded Saarc’s role in the region despite conflicts and difference.

“Pakistan is committed to fighting terrorism along with other Saarc nations through regional connectivity since we need to make this region a peaceful region,” said premier in his short address in Islamabad.

The leader of the Pakistani government underscored the remarkable gains it has achieved against terrorism through military offensive Zarb-e-Azb and the National Action Plan.

Later Interior Ministers of India, Sri Lanka and Bhutan while Deputy Interior Ministers of Afghanistan and Maldives met Pakistan’s premier. Secretary General Saarc, Arjun Bahadur Thakar, led the group of Saarc countries’ representatives.

During the interior ministers’ conference today, the member states of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, besides Pakistan and India discussed recommendations issues relating to terrorism, narcotics, and smuggling and immigration issues by Saarc interior secretaries, who met in Islamabad on Wednesday.

Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh reached the capital on Wednesday, making it the first visit to Pakistan by any high-level Indian official after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Pakistan last year.

Singh visited Islamabad at a time when Pakistan was working hard to congregate world leaders’ attention to the rising human rights violations and killing in India-held Kashmir.

His visit was also marked by protests around the twin cities by leading Kashmiri activists, religious parties and civil society members.