Peace In Kabul Only Via Kashmir: Pakistan

For the first time, Pakistan has linked peace in war-torn Afghanistan to the resolution of the Kashmir issue, saying a solution to both is required for peace and they cannot be “compartmentalized”.

“Road to peace in Kabul lies in Kashmir in the sense that when you talk of peace, you cannot compartmentalize peace, you can’t segregate a section…ok you can have peace in Kabul and let Kashmir burn. That is not going to happen,” Pakistan Prime Minister’s special envoy on Kashmir Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed was quoted as saying in a report by Times of India.

Syed who is the chairman of the Pakistan Senate’s Defence and Defence Production Committee was speaking during an interaction at Washington-based think-tank Stimson Centre said to US,“So you (US) talk of a comprehensive peace settlement, so let the people of South Asia not be hostage to the hostility of the past. Let them move forward”.

Shezra Mansab, a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan has said that no peace can prevail in the region unless the issue of Kashmir is not resolved.

“Our core issue this time is Kashmir and no peace can prevail in the region, if this issue is not solved. It is an international dispute. It is not an internal problem. The stakes are very high now, we are nuclear neighbors so we need to have peace on the issue of Kashmir and then rest of the things can be solved,” Mansab said.

During this interaction the two Pakistani envoys had also requested the US to intervene in the issue of Kashmir between the India and Pakistan.

This comes as the tensions between India and Pakistan over the issue of Kashmir has raised once again.