Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit with Nasheman.in editor Rizwan Asad at a dinner hosted by Press club of Bangalore during his visit to Bengaluru on Wednesday
Bengaluru: Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit on Wednesday asserted that the issues between India and Pakistan can be only solved through dialogue.
Speaking to Nasheman.in Mr. Basit said that there definitely are issues between both the countries, primarily being the issue of Jammu & Kashmir. He said, there is no other way to establish lasting peace without holding talks and resolving issues.
On the question of his country allegedly hiding fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, he asserted that “he is not in Pakistan. Even your government is not sure about his whereabouts.”
“Do share information on Dawood if you have any,” he said.
Earlier in his talk, Basit said since India is a big country it has more responsibilities on its shoulders to put an end to violence and Pakistan is ready to engage with India with sincerity and seriousness of purpose.
“After 35 years of violence in Pakistan, a fatigue factor has set in after having suffered at the hands of terrorism. We genuinely want violence to come to an end and we are ready to engage with India with sincerity and seriousness of purpose, but India as a big country has more responsibilities on its shoulders,” he said.
On the allegation that Army controls the politics and judiciary of the country, Mr. Basit rubbished it saying one should not give credence to propaganda. He assured that Pakistan is a democracy and a relatively conducive environment flourishes in his country.
Role of Urdu writers in Indo-Pak relationship
He said people of both the countries, have a common culture and language. Urdu, he contended has been a common thread of unity and writers of the language from both end of the border have encouraged bilateral relations between India and Pakistan.”
Mr. Basit also expressed great pleasure announcing that his country has recently passed an ordinance to make Urdu the official language of Pakistan. Acknowledging that Pakistan’s earlier leaders hailed from an elite class, who preferred English over Urdu, he said Urdu will finally get its due credit, after suffering for long.