Pak wants 'good relations' with its neighbours: Envoy amid strained ties with India

New Delhi, Mar 23: India and Pakistan should find a peaceful solution to their issues through engagement and dialogue, said Aftab Hasan Khan, Charge'd Affaires, Pakistan High Commission.

"Pakistan wants to have good relations with its neighbours. It's imp that instead of war we work towards eliminating poverty and illiteracy. It would only be possible if there is peace," he said.

"For peace to prevail, issues must be resolved through dialogue especially J&K that has been going on for 70 years," he added.

The statement comes on a day the two countries are holding the annual Permanent Indus Commission meeting in Delhi under the 1960 Indus Water Treaty (IWT). The meeting is being held after a gap of more than two-and-a-half years.

This year's meeting will be the first between the two commissioners after the August 2019 nullification of the operative provisions of Article 370 that gave special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The ties between India and Pakistan strained in 2019 after the Pulwama terror attack.

Tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours flared up after 40 CRPF personnel were killed by a Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama on February 14, 2019.

On February 26 2019, the Indian Air Force hit a Jaish-e-Mohammad training facility in Balakot, Pakistan to avenge the Pulwama attack.