‘India not reciprocating to Pak peace overtures’
london — Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has said India is not reciprocating Islamabad’s commitment to peace with “unilateral actions” and warned New Delhi against bullying Pakistan.
He said Pakistan is trying to overcome the trust deficit that exists in the region but India has disappointed Islamabad with unilateral moves like boycotting the Saarc summit which was to be hosted by Islamabad in 2016.
“The present government in India has a certain thinking, where it thinks it can bully Pakistan. That will not work. We must show maturity because the future of more than a billion people who live in South Asia is at stake, Iqbal said, delivering a lecture at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London.
“India’s gesture of not coming to the Saarc summit was uncalled for; very undiplomatic and very inappropriate for the cause of peace. Such unilateral actions only add to more mistrust. We should try to engage each other at different fora, he said.
In November, India decided not to attend the Saarc Summit in Islamabad after terrorists attacked an Indian military camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir, killing 18 soldiers.
Iqbal, also the deputy secretary-general of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) said that India’s lack of engagement and reciprocity had cost former prime minister Nawaz Sharif dearly.
“Sharif paid a lot of cost for his policy on India. He was categorised as ‘Modi ka yaar’ (Modi’s friend) by opposition forces for showing a lot of restraint and his commitment to peace with India. India has disappointed us; it has not reciprocated,” he said. —