Pak on its knees, pleads India to talk

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that Pakistan has learned its lesson after three wars with India and stressed that now it wants peace with its neighbour.

Islamabad, Jan 17: A beleaguered Pakistan, which is on the brink of a Sri Lanka-type economic collapse with a spectre of civil war lurking from behind, is now desperate to India back to the talk table.

In a recent interview with Dubai-based Al Arabiya TV, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that Pakistan has learned its lesson after three wars with India and stressed that now it wants peace with its neighbour.

He called for a "critical and honest talk" with his PM Narendra Modi on "burning points like Kashmir".

"My message to the Indian leadership and Prime Minister Modi is that let's sit down on the table and have serious and sincere talks to resolve our burning points like Kashmir. It is up to us to live peacefully and make progress or quarrel with each other and waste time and resources," Sharif said.

"We have had three wars with India, and they have only brought more misery, poverty, and unemployment to the people." "We have learnt our lesson, and we want to live in peace with India, provided we are able to resolve our genuine problems," Sharif said in the interview that was aired on Monday.

Pakistan, is hit by a severe economic crisis, public discontent against the ruling regime due to flour crisis and fuel shortage among others is also faced with rising instances of terror attacks by the proscribed outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which had ended a ceasefire with the country's security forces late last year.

"India is our neighbour country, we are neighbours. Let's be very blunt, even if we are not neighbours by choice we are there for ever and it is up to us for us to live peacefully and progress or quarrel with each other and waste time and resources. That is up to us," Sharif said in the interview to Al Arabiya.

Sharif also brought up the subject of Kashmir and said "Pakistan wants peace but what is happening in Kashmir should be stopped."

"Pakistan does not want to waste resources on bombs and ammunition. We are nuclear powers, armed to the teeth, and if God forbids, a war breaks out, who will live to tell what happened?" he said.

Talks after restoration of Article 370: Pakistan makes a U-turn

Hours after Sharif's statement, the Pakistan Prime Minister's Office raked up the issue of Kashmir and called for the restoration of Article 370.

"Prime Minister has repeatedly stated on record that talks can only take place after India had reversed its illegal action of August 5, 2019; without India's revocation of this step, negotiations are not possible. The settlement of the Kashmir dispute must be in accordance with the UN resolutions & the aspirations of the people of Jammu & Kashmir," read Pak PMO statement.

Pak media praise for PM Modi

Startled over India's growing footprints across the globe, the Pakistani daily, The Express Tribune, for the first time ever lauded India, saying New Delhi's stature has grown internationally and the country is now a preferred destination for investors across the world.

In an opinion piece in The Express Tribune, Shahzad Chaudhry, a political, security and defence analyst, wrote "India, is now relevant to the world, not only in its size and girth but by its footprint across the world."

While heaping praise on India, Chaudhry wrote "Its growth rate in GDP matches the best-performing economies over the last three decades after China."

The article comes at a time an immense power and economic crisis hit Pakistan, as the country is fast running out of essential items and is crippled with an inflation surge of 40 percent.

The prices of items such as wheat, cooking oil and poultry have spiraled and are now touching record high in the last few days.

The back-breaking inflation in Pakistan is playing havoc in the country with even basic food items becoming out of reach for the common masses.