Amid Ceasefire, Pakistan PM Sharif Express Willingness To Engage With India For Peace

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has reportedly expressed willingness to engage in talks with India for peace, The Express Tribune reported.

He said that Pakistan was ready for talks with India but on certain conditions. Notably, he want to hold talks on the Kashmir issue.

Speaking at the Pakistan Air Force pilots and personnel during a special visit to Kamra air base, Sharif said that people of Kashmir should be given their right to self-determination as per the United Nations Security Council resolutions.

India has been consistently saying that the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir are and will always remain an "integral and inalienable part of it." Just days ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated any future talks with Islamabad will be confined to terrorism and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

In his address to the nation recently, he said, "I would also like to tell the global community that our stated policy has been: if there are talks with Pakistan, it will be only on terrorism; and if there are talks with Pakistan, it will be only on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK)."

He further claimed that the support to terrorism will eventually lead to Pakistan's downfall and achieving peace is impossible without destroying the terrorist infrastructure.

"The way the Pakistani army and the Pakistan government are encouraging terrorism, it will destroy Pakistan one day. If Pakistan wants to survive, it will have to destroy its terror infrastructure. There is no other way to peace," PM Modi added.

India and Pakistan's relationship hit new low following the terrorist attack in Pahalgam in which 26 civilians were killed.

In response, Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindoo and hit nine terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), leading to the death of over 100 terrorists affiliated with terror outfits like the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM).

Pakistan retaliated with cross-border shelling across the Line of Control and Jammu and Kashmir and attempted drone attacks along the border regions. However, India launched a coordinated attack and damaged radar infrastructure, communication centres and airfields across airbases in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, India and Pakistan reached an understanding on the cessation of hostilities.