Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, head of the opposition, Pakistan People’s Party, speaks to reporters outside the National Assembly in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Highlight
- Bilawal Bhutto comments on his first US visit as External Affairs Minister
- Bhutto says India’s action on Kashmir ‘complicated matter’
- Delimitation Panel of India notifies its final report giving six additional assembly seats to Jammu
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said his country’s ties with India have been “particularly complicated” by New Delhi’s decision to abrogate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and a recent recommendation by a delimitation commission. Underlining that at present the “practical space” for “economic activity, dialogue and diplomacy” is “very limited.” Foreign Minister Bilawal, who is on his first visit to the US, made the remarks in response to questions during a press conference here on Thursday. “It is particularly complicated as far as our relationship with India is concerned” from his recent actions in Kashmir – first with the August 5, 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir The same recent decision by the Delimitation Commission on Jammu and Kashmir, he said.
Bilawal said these actions “complicated the matter.” He alleged that the action was an “attack” on the United Nations, UN Security Council resolutions and the Geneva Conventions. “Such actions make it very difficult for us to negotiate with India,” he said. “Having said that, we are very cognizant of the fact that economic activity, dialogue, diplomacy are ultimately the ways and means for countries to engage with each other and resolve disputes. I just note that Especially given this aggressive, hostile behavior at this time, the practical space for this to happen is very limited,” he said.
The delimitation panel, constituted in March 2020, earlier this month notified its final report to bring the Jammu region with six additional assembly seats and the Kashmir Valley one more Rajouri and Poonch regions under the Anantnag parliamentary seat. The 90-member house will now have 43 seats in the Jammu division and 47 in Kashmir. Tensions between India and Pakistan have escalated since New Delhi abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution on August 5, 2019, to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. India’s decision drew strong backlash from Pakistan, which downgraded diplomatic ties and expelled the Indian envoy. India has clearly told the international community that abrogation of Article 370 is its internal matter. India has repeatedly told Pakistan that Jammu and Kashmir “was, is and always will be” and will remain an integral part of the country. It also advised Pakistan to accept the reality and stop all anti-India propaganda.
India has told Pakistan that it wants normal neighborly relations with Islamabad in an environment free from terror, hostility and violence. To a question on India’s decision to ban wheat exports, he said, “it is clearly the decision of the Indian government what it wants to do” and added that such restrictive and protective actions should be taken by multilateral such as UN Security Council. Being discouraged through forums. Council meeting on conflict and food security convened by the US. “We must all work together to address the needs of those who cannot meet their food security goals,” he said.
Responding to a question on the domestic political situation, Bilawal said, “On the international front, we have a foreign policy vacuum. On the economic front, we have an economic catastrophe in front of us, and we have a highly polarized political society.” Now the job of the government is to work together to take tough decisions and implement necessary reforms so that we can move forward. And I believe that as long as we do, and as long as we conduct that way, there is little to challenge the new government and this broad coalition. But if we don’t do our job ourselves, we will have to face many challenges.”
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