Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday welcomed the offer by US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to ease tensions between Pakistan and India

“We continue to urge our American friends, including those in the administration and Congress, to play their due role in resolving bilateral issues between Pakistan and India, particularly the Kashmir dispute,” Foreign Office Spokesman Nafess Zakaria said in a weekly media briefing at the Foreign Office.

In an interview with Indian newspaper Hindustan Times last week, Trump said he would be pleased to be a mediator between Pakistan and India.

Zakaria said Pakistan was closely monitoring the developments concerning the Indus Waters Treaty, and added that any violation of the accord by India would be unacceptable. “Pakistan will take stern legal action… [in case of] violation of any of the agreements signed with India.”

He said that India had violated the ceasefire agreement more than 90 times in 2016 alone. Pakistan handed over a demarche to representatives of the United Nations Military Observers group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), protesting against the Indian Army’s targeting of Pakistani civilians across the Line of Control (LoC), he said.

Condemning the LoC violations by India, he said that Pakistan would reply to all such aggressions in a befitting manner.

The FO spokesman said that the Indian prime minister’s statements on Balochistan and former East Pakistan were proof of Indian interference in Pakistan.

To a question, the spokesman said that Pakistan had been acting against terrorists without any discrimination, and the international community had also acknowledged Pakistan’s efforts in the war against terrorism.

On Pakistan’s isolation, he said that the notion that India was isolating Pakistan internationally was “ridiculous”. “Indian attempts of diplomatically isolating Pakistan have failed miserably,” Zakaria said.

He said that it was deplorable that India was using regional forums, such as the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), for its political ambitions. He said the SAARC summit had been postponed eight times in the past, and India was directly responsible for its postponement five times.

On Iran’s desires for joining the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, the spokesman said that the project would not only benefit Pakistan but the whole region.

On Afghanistan, he said Pakistan hailed the agreements between the Afghan National Government and Hizbi Islami. “Pakistan wants peace in Afghanistan” and was ready to assist them in the Afghan peace process, he said, adding that Pakistan desired an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process in Afghanistan, which was also in favour of Pakistan. He said that being part of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG), Pakistan was making efforts for peace in Afghanistan.