PHNOM PENH, July 12:
Strongly pitching for a “new pathway” to resolve all issues with India, Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar today said the two sides need to show flexibility and honour commitments made to each other having taken “baby steps” in improving their ties.
India and Pakistan require to build their relationship on “trust” and that sincere efforts must be initiated to ensure that they are able to achieve the “results that we have not been able to achieve so far,” Khar told on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit here.
While asserting that solutions to all the issues must be found through dialogue, she said both sides have to bridge the trust deficit so that on the negotiating table “we don’t end up all the time restating the stated position.”
“We have done it far too long. I feel that Pakistan sent a very serious message to its friends in India when it decided to move forward on trade,” she said, adding the intention behind the message was that it was based on mutual interest
More importantly … “we meant business when we said that we want to move forward in a different way that we were going to try and trade on a new pathway,” Khar said.
“I feel that there is a strong commitment from both the political leadership to do so. It has been my strong desire that we are able to solve some of the solvable disputes at least in the near future,” she said replying to a question.
“For that in some area, we require flexibility and in other areas we just require to hold on or honour the commitments that we had made to each other. That will give a good message to our people,” Khar said.
“I think it is important to recognise that Pakistan has more than one way walked the talk of approaching this from a different lens and we are somewhat satisfied that we have been able to achieve at least baby steps together and ‘inshallah’ more to come in the future,” Khar said.
Observing that serious attempts had been made in the past to improve bilateral ties, Khar said both countries must make efforts so that the next generation does not have to carry the burden of the relationship. (PTI).
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