NEW DELHI: Outgoing Pakistani High Commissioner Abdul Basit today said a dialogue between India and Pakistan was a “pre-requisite” and a “necessity” to mend relations between the neighbours, which might require “give and take” from both sides.
Basit punctuated his pitch for dialogue with his advocacy for “self-determination” of the Kashmiri populace. The Jammu and Kashmir dispute must be resolved for any real progress, he said.
“Both the countries need to decide that they need to be engaged…As was decided at Sharm El Sheikh, where we took a considered decision to separate talks from terrorism. We should not be hostage to forces that do not want progress,” he said.
Basit made the remarks at an event, likely to be his last public engagement in New Delhi before demiting office, organised by the ‘South Asia Forum for Art and Creative Heritage’. (AGENCIES)
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