Nawaz urges US to side with Pakistan against Indian aggression

Published October 23, 2015
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with head of US Institute of Peace Nancy Lindborg. —APP
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with head of US Institute of Peace Nancy Lindborg. —APP

WASHINGTON: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif urged the United States to take Pakistan's side in its long-standing dispute with rival nuclear power India or run the risk of escalating conflict.

Speaking in Washington on Friday, a day after talks with US President Barack Obama, Nawaz said Pakistan was ready to help Afghanistan revive peace talks with Taliban rebels.

But he made it clear that his main priority was seeking international support to compel India to negotiate over the future of the disputed province of Kashmir.

The premier charged India of stepping up ceasefire violations across the Line of Control and Working Boundary.

“While refusing dialogue, India is engaged in a major arms buildup, regrettably with the active assistance of several powers,” he said, in an address to the US Institute for Peace.

“It has adopted dangerous military doctrines. This will compel Pakistan to take several countermeasures to preserve credible deterrence.”

“Obviously the Pakistan-India relationship poses the most difficult and urgent challenge,” Nawaz said.

“I believe a close review of some of the existing assumptions and analysis and greater attention to Pakistan's views and interests would be useful in enabling Washington to play a constructive role in averting the ever present danger of escalation and in promoting stability in South Asia."

He also noted “a stream of hostile statements by the Indian political and military leadership.”

At the White House on Thursday, Nawaz and Obama had agreed to help Afghanistan re-start peace talks that broke off in early August when it emerged that Taliban leader Mullah Omar had been dead for two years.

Pakistan has been accused of covertly supporting the Afghan Taliban in its guerrilla campaign against Kabul and allied Nato forces.

Nawaz insisted his country has no interest in backing the Taliban's campaign of violence, but pleaded that Pakistan “cannot bring them to the table and be asked to kill them at the same time."

Of far more importance, he suggested, was Islamabad's relationship with India, pressuring Washington not to continue pursuing warmer ties with his giant neighbour.

“There is no alternative for the two countries but to resume a comprehensive dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues, including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

Opinion

Editorial

Errant ECP
Updated 22 Jan, 2025

Errant ECP

THE ECP has once again earned a detailed reprimand from the Supreme Court. That it still refuses to correct course is ominous
Fast-tracking M6
Updated 22 Jan, 2025

Fast-tracking M6

GRAND infrastructure projects in Pakistan often progress at the pace of a bullock cart rather than a bullet train....
Gwadar airport
Updated 22 Jan, 2025

Gwadar airport

THE air connectivity established by the inauguration of PIA flights between Karachi and Gwadar is a major step...
Trump 2.0
Updated 21 Jan, 2025

Trump 2.0

Few have forgotten how disruptive Trump could be as president. There has been little indication that his 2nd term will be any different.
GB’s status
21 Jan, 2025

GB’s status

THE demand raised by the people of Gilgit-Baltistan for constitutional clarity and provisional provincial status is...
Panda bond
Updated 21 Jan, 2025

Panda bond

ISLAMABAD’S plans to raise $200m from China’s capital markets through the inaugural issue of a Panda bond this...