President of Pakistan Dr. Arif Alvi briefly asserted the Pakistan’s desire for Peace in South Asia and beyond during his address to Joint Service Pakistan Day Parade in Islamabad on 25th December 2021. President said that Pakistan desires to spread a message of goodwill to regional countries for a common prosperity, but its intention must not be misconstrued as weakness. Dr. Alvi gave a clear message to the adversaries on Pakistan’s intent for peace beside its capabilities to evade aggression against it and clarified that, in case of any misadventure, Pakistan is capable of thwarting it with full force. While raising his concerns on Kashmir’s situation, President Alvi said Kashmir is Pakistan’s jugular vein and vowed that Pakistan would continue to stand with the Kashmiris in their struggle for right to self-determination in accordance with the United Nations Charter and its Security Council resolutions. President maintained that the peace in South Asia is linked with the resolution of issue of Jammu and Kashmir dispute. Pakistani leadership has been expressing its desire for peace and continuously calling India to act for promoting peace in South Asia, however, Indian leadership has not been reciprocating these calls for peace rather it went to create obstructions in the path toward peace. Just week ago, Prime Minster Imran Khan reiterated Pakistan’s desire for peace during his speech at Pakistan Security Dialogues and said that onus to create enabling environment is on India because India had taken unilateral actions in IIOJK and it is not possible for Pakistan to move ahead with this inhumane environment in the valley. While responding to Prime Minister Imran Khan call, Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that India desires good neighbourly ties with Pakistan and is committed to addressing issues, if any, bilaterally but the onus is on Islamabad to create such an atmosphere. However, in a surprising move, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote a letter to Imran Khan and extended greetings on the occasion of National Day of Pakistan. The letter said that India desires cordial relations with the people of Pakistan. For this, an atmosphere of trust, devoid of terror and hostility, is imperative. This is a big development that the ice is melting and both sides are ready to move forward. The discussions are going on, how the two sides agreed to move forward. Few days back, a US based news outlet the Bloomberg claimed that UAE had played role in bringing the two sides on talking terms.
According to Bloomberg, UAE’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed brokered the backdoor diplomacy between the two countries which led to the recommitment of two DGMOs to respect 2003 cease fire understanding. The Bloomberg claimed that next step would be the reinstatement of the two envoys in each other country to pave the path for negotiations. However, experts are in view that India started this initiative to validate its unilateral actions in IIOJK and to avoid pressure of Biden administration. It further said that if Pakistan would go to talks with India without reversal of August 5 actions by the Modi government, it would authenticate the Indian’s heinous acts in the valley. So, just initiation of talks does not fulfill the Pakistani interests. It will further Indian’s interests instead of Pakistan and Foreign Office must be aware of the trap.
