Summary All Pakistan leaders including General Zia tried to look for a negotiated solution, said Kasoori
LAHORE: (Web Desk, Dunya News) - Dunya Special show was organized on Saturday over Pakistan-India relations and the meeting between the Indian and Pakistani prime ministers held in Ufa, Russia, on Friday. Senior analyst and reporter Salman Ghani, Head of Dunya News Defense Desk Wajahat Saeed Khan were on the panel while Ajmal Jami hosted the show.
Khurshid Kasoori, former Foreign Minister of Pakistan, was contacted during the show. Kasoori told that when he went to India, the Indian government told him not to meet the Hurriyat leaders but he refused to abide by the orders since meeting the Hurriyat leaders was the biggest reason to be in India..
Responding to a question on Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid’s statement that former President General (r) Pervez Musharraf damaged the Kashmir cause the most, Khurshid Kasoori said that he didn’t want to get into petty politics.
All Pakistan leaders including General Ziaul Haque tried to look for a negotiated solution for the Kashmir issue. “If they wanted to talk about the United Nations resolutions on Kashmir, there was no point in talking".
Senior journalist Salman Ghani questioned him about the deal that the Musharraf government was going to close with India. Kasoori said that all Pakistan leaders including General Ziaul Haque tried to look for a negotiated solution for the Kashmir issue. “If they wanted to talk about the United Nations resolutions on Kashmir, there was no point in talking. UN resolutions are quite clear. Everyone wanted a negotiated solution because they knew that the solution of the dispute in accordance with the UN resolutions would be near impossible", said Kasoori.
Air Marshal (r) Shahid Latif said on this occaison that the government lost the initiative despite the fact that it was India that wanted the negotiations. He said that India was on the back-foot but Nawaz Sharif government failed to take the advantage.
Revered analyst Wajahat Saeed Khan said that he wasn t able to find anything concerning Pakistan in the joint declaration. He said that the Kashmir issue, Siachen issue, Water issue were all missing in this declaration while all the issues concerning India including terrorism and Mumbai attacks found their way into the declaration.
Salman Ghani said that Pakistan had the advantage after Narendra Modi s speeches in Bangladesh where he admitted that India was responsible for Pakistan s dismemberment in 1971 but Nawaz Sharif, instead of getting every issue highlighted in the joint declaration, failed to even get a mention of these issues in the declaration. He said that Kashmir is a core issue and Pakistan cannot afford to give up on it.
Wajahat said that despite ample experience in foreign policy, Nawaz Sharif, Tariq Fatemi and Sartaj Aziz should now finally get themselves a full-time Foreign Minister.
Shahid Latif said that the walkway was deliberately kept long so that the world may see how Pakistani officials went walking to Narendra Modi for the meeting.
Shahid Latif said that the walkway was deliberately kept long so that the world may see how Pakistani officials went walking to Narendra Modi for the meeting. He said that all these things clearly showed that Pakistan government officials went in there with a defeatist mindset, like Indian subjects .
Talking about the significance of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) membership, Shahid Latif said that it is a major development for Pakistan and since the economic indicators are improving, this forward-looking organization will certainly help us improve on economic front. "Previously, we have seen SAARC becoming worthless because of Pakistan-India disputes. This organization is much forward-looking and will help Pakistan", he said.
Wajahat Khan said that it is a Rising Pakistan today. "We have to be positive in our approach now. Pakistan is a strong country today and can play on the front-foot", he added.
"Give us the Nawaz Sharif of 1998 back to us", said Salman Ghani.
"Give us the Nawaz Sharif of 1998 back to us", said Salman Ghani. He said that Nawaz Sharif stood firm before the United States and international pressure in 1998 over nuclear explosions issue but he seems to be a bit confused this time.
Wajahat Saeed Khan said that Pakistan doesn t need to talk to India if water and Kashmir issues cannot be raised with them.
