NEW DELHI: Pakistan’s High Commissioner in New Delhi Abdul Basit said a solution regarding Kashmir is not acceptable to Pakistan unless it is accepted by the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
In an interview to Indian newspaper The Hindu, published on Wednesday, Basit acknowledged that he had sought help from the international community in resolving bilateral disputes with India.
To him, Jammu and Kashmir are central to Pakistan-India relations, and since much progress had not been made in the last few decades, it was imperative to discuss it in order to deal with the root causes of the problem.
He added that his meeting with the Hurriyat leadership in 2014 should not be portrayed in a negative light since such meetings help find “a just and fair solution to the long-standing dispute over Jammu and Kashmir.”
When asked how he would define Pakistan-India relations today, Basit responded by stating that after 2014, when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, bilateral relations seemed very promising.
Since a framework to restart talks and a comprehensive bilateral dialogue had been decided upon by 2015, he hoped it will be carried forward and will allow both the countries to reach an agreement and move past the “environment of accusations.”
However, he added that since then New Delhi has not made a constructive move towards comprehensive dialogue between the two countries.
"In diplomacy, you cannot simply lock the door and throw the key away. You have to keep the door open for possibilities. I am hopeful that Pakistan and India will talk to each other, but whether it happens now or two years down the road, I do not know," he said in answer to a question.
Focusing on the events that took place in 2016, Basit said that Pakistan-India ties had not irrevocably been harmed because they were part of the same problems that were already being dealt with. Be it the Pathankot attack, India’s crossing of the LOC and ‘surgical’ strikes, or the [Kulbhushan] Jadhav case; they are all part of the same issues that are not being spoken about, he said.
In order to resume dialogue with India today, “the two countries would need to cooperate with each other”.
When questioned why Pakistan was not taking “serious action” against Hafiz Saeed or Mazhoor Hasan, Basit stated that if India cooperated with them and helped them gather “hard evidence” against them, then real action could be carried out.
Talking about the Jadhav case, Basit commented that if Jadhav’s appeal is rejected by the court, he can apply for clemency to the army chief and if denied, to the president.
In reply to a question, he shared that at present there is no back-channel dialogue with India as for that to happen, there needs to be a ‘front-channel’ dialogue.
Commenting on Pakistan’s recent victory against India in the ICC Champions Trophy, Basit commented that the two rivals should continue to play cricket and should not let their political problems get in the way of sports.