Summary Foreign Office says Pakistan, India ready to resolve all outstanding issues through negotiations
ISLAMABAD: (Dunya News) – Foreign Office (FO) of Pakistan has on Thursday said that the LNG agreement with Qatar is not a replacement of Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline. FO also stated that while the dates for talks have not yet been decided but Pakistan and India are ready to resolve all the outstanding issues through talks, reported Dunya News.
In his first media briefing after taking over the position, FO Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria decided to remain silent on most issues. Directing the journalists asking questions about Pathankot incident to seek answers from Interior Ministry, FO spokesperson also avoided answering the question regarding Intelligence Bureau (IB) Director General’s (DG) statement about Islamic State (IS).
Also read: Date for Pakistan, India talks not fixed yet
During weekly press briefing in Islamabad, the FO spokesperson said: "Dialogue is the only way to resolve all the outstanding issues with India."
He said both sides are in constant touch with each other at various levels to finalise date for talks.
Earlier, top diplomats from both countries were scheduled to meet Islamabad on January 15 to set out a roadmap for talks on settling the Kashmir dispute and other irritants in their ties.
Later, Vikas Swarup, India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesman, told reporters that the meeting will now be held in "the very near future." He denied speculation that the talks would collapse because of Pathankot incident.
To a question, Nafees Zakaria both counties are also in contact regarding investigation into Pathankot terrorist incident.
When asked about IB report on Daesh network, the spokesperson refused to comment on the issue, however, he said there is no organized presence of Daesh (Islamic State) in Pakistan.
He said Pakistan is consistently and constantly supporting all regional efforts against terrorism and extremism. He said it is in this context that Islamabad has welcomed the 34-nation coalition against terrorism. He said its details and modelities are being worked out at experts level.
The spokesperson said the fourth meeting of Quadrilateral Coordination Group on Afghanistan will be held in Kabul on 23rd of this month.
