Pakistan ready to resolve all issues with India through dialogue — PM Khan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Saturday that Pakistan was ready to resolve all issues with India through dialogue as he welcomed an agreement between the two countries’ militaries to restore cease-fire along their disputed border in Kashmir.
The nuclear-armed neighbors signed a cease-fire agreement along the Line of Control (LoC) — their de facto border in the Kashmir region — in 2003, but the truce has been fraying in recent years. In recent months, cross border firing has become frequent, often killing or maiming people living in the area.
In a joint statement on Thursday, the military operations heads of the two countries said they had agreed to discuss each other’s concerns that could disturb peace and lead to violence in the Himalayan region.
“We have always stood for peace & remain ready to move forward to resolve all outstanding issues through dialogue,” Khan said in a series of tweets.
“I welcome restoration of the cease-fire along the LOC. The onus of creating an enabling environment for further progress rests with India.”
The prime minister’s tweets came also on the second anniversary of Pakistan’s move to release a captured Indian pilot whose jet was shot down in Pakistani airspace during a clash over Kashmir in February 2019.
At the time, Khan announced the pilot’s return “as a goodwill gesture aimed at de-escalating rising tensions with India.”
Kashmir has long been a flashpoint between Pakistan and India as both countries claim the region in full but rule it in part.
Tensions increased in August 2019, after New Delhi withdrew the autonomy of the Muslim-majority Kashmiri region and split it into federally administered territories.