Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offer of mediation to resolve the ongoing tension between Islamabad and New Delhi.

“Pakistan welcomes UNSC Permanent Member Russia’s attention and intention to play a role in this longstanding issue on the UNSC agenda,” Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria told a weekly press briefing.

Talking about ties with Russia, the spokesman said Pakistan-Russia relations were following a positive trajectory. “Both sides have signed defence agreement, held joint military exercises and Russia was investing $ 2 billion in South-North gas pipeline project. There was tremendous scope for enhancing ties further, particularly in political, economic and trade, energy, defense, culture and education fields,” he said.

The spokesman said there was a growing concern among the regional countries and the UN on the threat to peace in the region ‘due to Indian unprovoked hostility on the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working Boundary’. To a question about External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s statement that Pakistan cannot take Kashmir issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), he said Pakistan was a sovereign country and reserved the right to take up any matter at any forum it deemed appropriate.

To another question, the spokesperson said Pakistan consistently emphasized that a politically negotiated settlement was imperative for the Afghan conflict. “QCG was an effective forum in this regard. In this context, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Ashraf Ghani reiterated their willingness to advance peace process through QCG provided other member states agree to this proposal. We believe that it is a positive development,” he said.