Still ready for dialogue: PM
2025-07-24
ISLAMABAD: Appreciating Britain`s role in de-escalating tensions between Pakistan and India during their armed stand-off earlier this year, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reiterated that Islamabad was ready for meaningful dialogue with New Delhi on all outstanding issues.
His remarks came during a meeting with British High Commissioner Jane Marriott, the PM Office said in a statement.
While expressing satisfaction at the positive trajectory of bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and the United Kingdom, PM Shehbaz said the recentlyheld trade talks between the two countries would lead to mutually beneficial opportunities for both sides.
The prime minister said Pakistan was cooperating closely with the UK at the UN Security Council, where Islamabad currently holds the monthly presidency.
He also welcomed the UK government`s recent decision to resume PIA flights to and from the UK, which he said, would go a long way in alleviating thehardships faced by the British Pakistani community as well as enhancing peopleto-people exchanges. He particularly appreciated the role of the High Commissioner in this regard.
During the meeting, Mr Shehbaz conveyed his warm wishes for King Charles III and Prime Minister Keir Starmer and said he looked forward to his meeting with the UK leadership later this year.
The UK high commissioner thanked the prime minister for receiving her and briefed him about her recent visit to London, where she had extensive consultations on enhancing Pakistan-UK bilateral ties.
The regional situation of South Asia and the Middle East came under discussion.
Pakistan has previously invited India to a comprehensive dialogue to address all contentious issues, including the Kashmir dispute and the water distribution.
The April 22 attack in occupied Kashmir`s Pahalgam killed 26 people, sparking a military confrontation between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan asNewDelhiblamedit onIslamabad, which strongly denied the allegations while calling for a neutral investigation.
A US-brokered ceasefire ended the war.
India asked to `change behaviour` Meanwhile, Pakistan`s envoy to the UN Security Council, Ambassador Usman Jadoon, rejected Indian allegations of cross-border terrorism and asked India to change its behaviour, instead of resorting to its `tired narrative of victimhood and blame-shifting`, Dawn.com reported.
Speaking during a debate on `Promoting International Peace and Security through Multilateralism and Peaceful Settlement of Disputes` on Tuesday, Mr Jadoon responded to Indian envoy ParvathaneniHarish`s remarks following Deputy PM Ishaq Dar`s speech, where he had underscored the need for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
`It is India which actively sponsors,aids and abets terrorism in my country and beyond,` Mr Jadoon, Pakistan`s deputy permanent representative to the UN, told the 15-member body.
`Rather than being blinded by hubris and a misplaced sense of impunity, and instead of resorting to its tired narrative of victimhood and blame-shifting, India must introspect seriously, change its behaviour and comply with its international legal obligations on all counts,` he said.
`While claiming to abide by the UN charter, and purportedly the principle of peaceful settlement of disputes, India has been in violation of security council resolutions on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, and has refused to implement those resolutions, thereby denying the Kashmiri people the exercise of their inalienable right to selfdetermination,` he said.