Work in resolving Kashmir issue, Sharif tells India

In the South-East Asia, peace can only come if Pakistan and india resolve their dispute over Jammu and Kashmir, Nawaz Sharif, Pakistani Prime Minister has said.

“If we sincerely want to bring peace to the region, we will have to resolve the Kashmir issue,” Radio Pakistan quoted Sharif as saying here.

“The entire world knows that Kashmir is the root cause of tension in the region,” he told the Pakistani-American community in Washington.

Work in resolving Kashmir issue, Sharif tells India

Pakistani PM also accused India of being insincere vis-a-vis bilateral peace efforts.

Sharif said while Pakistan wanted friendly relations with India, but they would have to address the Jammu and Kashmir row.

He is expected to meet US President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry.

In recent months, relations between Pakistan and India have been strained, as both nations blaming the other for the diplomatic stalemate.

During his speech at the UN in September, Mr Sharif, had mooted the four-point formula for improving ties with India, that includes demilitarisation of Kashmir, formalisation of the 2003 border ceasefire, unconditional withdrawal of forces from Siachen and restraint by both countries from “use or the threat of use of force under any circumstances”.

New Delhi the formula, saying that instead of four-steps, Pakistan just needed to end cross-border terrorism for normalisation of the bilateral ties. “The number of incidents of violence is only increasing and the situation seems from going from bad to worse,” he said.

“It seems that divisive forces have been let loose after the new government took over. What is worrisome that this has not spared Jammu and Kashmir even where polarisation is being done with a design to break the state. And moreover, the government is doing nothing to rein in such criminals who are hell bent on disturbing secular fabric,” he said. He said various trade and student delegations had met him and expressed their fears over moving out of Kashmir.