After Imran Khan, Pakistan’s army chief called for better relations with India

Pakistan’s Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said on Thursday that it was time for India and Pakistan to “bury the past and move forward” as they claimed that peace between the two neighbors would “unlock” South and Central Asia’s potential. Will help .

Addressing a session of the Islamabad Security Dialogue for the first time in Islamabad, General Bajwa also said that the potential for regional peace and development always remained hostage to disputes and issues between Pakistan and India – two “nuclear-armed neighbors”.

“We think it’s time to bury the past and move forward,” he said.

India said last month that it aspires for normal neighborly relations with Pakistan in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence. India has said that Pakistan is attacking Pakistan to create an environment free from terror and hostility.

India has also told Pakistan that “talks and terror” cannot go together and has asked Islamabad to take protestive measures against the terrorist groups responsible for launching various attacks on India.

Kashmir at the core

“Our neighbor will have to create a particularly conducive environment”, in Kashmir, General Bajwa said, adding that any attempt to improve relations without addressing the core issue would be unsafe for external political factors.

He said, “The Kashmir issue is of paramount importance at the moment. It is important to understand that without resolving the Kashmir dispute in a peaceful manner, the process will always be susceptible to derail politically motivated Bellicity.”

The powerful army, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 70-plus years of existence, has gained considerable power in matters of security and foreign policy.

General Bajwa’s remarks came a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan made a similar statement at the same venue.

Prime Minister Khan said on Wednesday that India would benefit financially by having peace with Pakistan, as it would enable New Delhi to directly access the resource-rich Central Asia region through the Pakistani territory.

“India will have to take the first step. Until they do, we can’t do much,” Mr. Khan said while delivering the inaugural address at the inauguration of the two-day dialogue.

Mr. Khan said that India would benefit financially by having a direct route to the Central Asian region. Central Asia is rich in oil and gas.

Central Asia, in the modern context, generally includes five resource-rich countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

‘Waiting for Central Asia’

General Bajwa also said that peace between Pakistan and India would help “unlock the potential of South and Central Asia” by ensuring contact between East and West Asia.

However, both Prime Minister Khan and General Bajwa did not specify the minimum steps to be taken by India, but many experts in Pakistan believe that some positive measures in Kashmir would come from entering negotiations or restoring normal diplomatic relations. First, we can reduce the pressure on the Government of Pakistan. .

General Bajwa also talked about poverty, which he said was linked to regional tensions that impeded regional connectivity and integration.

“Despite being poor, we spend a lot of our money on defense, which naturally comes at the cost of human development,” he said.

However, he said that Pakistan was resisting the temptation to be part of the arms race or to raise the defense budget, despite increasing security challenges.

“It’s not easy, especially when you live in a hostile and volatile neighborhood. But in saying that, let me say that we are willing to resolve all our outstanding issues through a respectful and peaceful dialogue with our neighbors.” Ready. Manner, “he said.

India and Pakistan announced on 25 February that they had agreed to strictly abide by all agreements on the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir and other areas.

Relations between India and Pakistan were plagued by terrorist groups based in the neighboring country after a terrorist attack at Pathankot Air Force Base in 2016.

Subsequent attacks, including the Indian Army camp at Uri, worsened the relationship.

India’s war planes worsened relations after encircling a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp inside Pakistan on 26 February 2019 in response to the Pulwama terror attack, which killed 40 CRPF personnel.

Relations deteriorated after India announced the withdrawal of the special powers of Jammu and Kashmir and the division of the state into two union territories in August 2019.

Talking about the concept of national security, General Bajwa said that it was not about protecting countries from external and internal threats.

“Today, the leading drivers of change in the world are demographics, economy and technology … However, one issue that is central to this concept is economic security and cooperation,” he said.

He said that since national security includes human security, national progress and development, it was not merely the task of the armed forces and a national effort was needed to protect a nation.