Key Points
- Pakistan seeks meaningful dialogue to resolve bilateral tensions
- Civil, military leadership united against terrorism
- India using water as weapon against 240 million people
- Modi adopting aggressive stance, misleading global and domestic audiences
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman and former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday criticised India for making “excuses” to avoid meaningful dialogue on longstanding bilateral issues amid escalating tensions between the two countries.
Speaking at a press conference in Washington following meetings with US lawmakers and think tanks, he stated that Pakistan’s civil and military leadership are united in their stance against terrorism and share the view that establishing dialogue with India is in the best interest of the region.
It is India who’s been running away from calls for an investigation and it’s been India who’s been running away from efforts for dialogue. I believe that is perhaps the lamest excuse for not having a dialogue right now, he remarked.
Pakistan has launched a comprehensive diplomatic outreach campaign in the United States to present its perspective on the recent escalation in tensions with India and to counter New Delhi’s increasing lobbying influence.
“I believe the true path forward is for India and Pakistan to engage in a dialogue to establish peace. Whatever excuse you want to make sometimes, it’s this civil military excuse, sometimes it’s this geopolitical excuse, sometimes it’s this ‘Oh all Muslims are terrorist excuse so we’re not going to talk to Pakistan’ — it’s getting [tiresome]. You can’t be two nuclear armed neighbours with a conflict threshold so low and absolutely no dispute resolution mechanism,” he argued.
It’s in all our interest to convince India to undo the decision that doesn’t serve their purposes and come to the table and talk, he asserted.
Using water as weapon
Head of Pakistan’s Parliamentary delegation Bilawal Bhutto Zardari added that India is using water as a weapon and depriving 240 million people of water is an open aggression.
He warned that India cannot unilaterally hold Indus Water Treaty in abeyance. He said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been adopting an intimidating posture.
He claimed India is misleading the international community, including its own people.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that India is involved in terrorism in Pakistan as Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav was arrested from Balochistan. He asserted that during the recent conflict with India, Pakistan shot down six Indian fighter jets but India took one month to acknowledge the loss of aircraft.
He noted that 20 Indian jets were on target of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) but Pakistan observed restraint. He added that no Pakistani aircraft were damaged during the operation.
