Pakistan has said that it is looking forward to work closely with the Donald Trump administration to resolve its dispute with India over Kashmir.
Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to Nawaz Sharif on Foreign Affairs, has conveyed this message to both the current US administration as well as the officials who are likely to join the incoming Trump administration.
In an interview with NBC News this week, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said Trump intended to be fully engaged with both Pakistan and India to promote regional peace. He also suggested that the president-elect could play a role in resolving longstanding international disputes, such as Kashmir.
Talking to the US press, Fatemi emphasised that Pakistan wanted relations between the two countries to be further strengthened.
The special assistant stressed that Pakistan could play a significant role in promoting peace and stability not just in Afghanistan but the entire region. Pakistan has confluence of interests with the US and there is a solid track record of both working together over seven decades, he said.
The special assistant underlined the need for a sustained dialogue process between Pakistan and India to resolve their long-standing differences including that of Kashmir.
Fatemi also spoke about the widespread and home-grown uprising in Jammu and Kashmir, which the Indian government has been trying to "suppress using brute force".
"Over 16,000 Kashmiris have been injured and approximately 600 blinded by using pellet guns. In addition, the number of ceasefire violations have increased during recent months," he said adding that these violations had targeted innocent civilians, which amount to a "war crime".
(With IANS inputs)
