Seeking peace with neighbours Pakistan PM brings up Kashmir issue at UN.

At the UN, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif brought up the Kashmir conflict and declared that war is no longer an option. Sharif stated that Pakistan was seeking peace with all of its neighbours in his speech at the high-level UN General Assembly session.

‘A stable external environment is necessary for Pakistan. With all of our neighbours, including India, we seek peace. But a just and permanent resolution to the Jammu and Kashmir problem remains necessary for long-term peace and stability in South Asia, he added.

According to Sharif, the ‘illegal and unilateral’ moves taken by India on August 5, 2019, to modify the special status of Jammu and Kashmir severely harmed chances for peace and heightened tensions in the region.

‘I think it’s high time that India understood this message loud and clear that both countries are armed to the teeth. War is not an option. It is not an option. Only peaceful dialogue can resolve these issues so that the world becomes more peaceful in time to come,’ he said.

Jammu and Kashmir ‘was, is, and shall forever’ remain an essential component of India, the country has consistently told Pakistan. India has stated that it wants peaceful, cordial relations with Pakistan that are free from antagonism, terrorism, and violence.

After New Delhi repealed Article 370 of the Constitution, relations between India and Pakistan took a severe hit. Pakistan responded strongly to India’s move by downgrading diplomatic ties and expelling the Indian envoy.

Shehbaz claimed that Jammu and Kashmir is now the ‘most militarised zone in the world’ as a result of New Delhi’s increased military presence there. He asserted that Pakistanis have consistently shown unwavering sympathy with Kashmiris and will do so in the future.

He said he will be forthcoming, to sit down and talk to ‘our Indian counterparts’ to pave the way forward for the future so that ‘our generations do not suffer, so that we spend our resources on mitigating miseries, on building structures to face these floods and outburst of clouds.’