MANAMA: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said that wars are no solution and all issues needed to be resolved through dialogue because regional stability depended on peace.

Addressing members of the Pakistani community here on Thursday, the prime minister regretted that Pakistan’s relations with India were not ideal and recalled his visit to New Delhi on the invitation of India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said the gesture was meant to show to the new Indian leadership that Pakistan wanted cordial relations with all its neighbours.

He said the two prime ministers had agreed during the visit that a meeting of foreign secretaries would be held to resume the dialogue process, but India unilaterally called off that meeting on the pretext that Pakistani ambassador had met the Kashmiri leadership.

Referring to the exchange of fire along the Line of Control, Mr Sharif said that such incidents appeared to be an attempt to mar bilateral relations.

Recalling his talks with former Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Lahore Declaration and initiation of the Pakistan-India Bus Service, he said there was mutual desire to improve relations and said this spirit should continue.

Referring to the war on terror, the prime minister said the government would continue the war against all terrorists till their complete elimination and restoration of peace and normalcy across the country.

He said that military courts were being set up to take to task all those elements who were involved in acts of terror against the country and were killing innocent people.

The prime minister appreciated the role of the political parties who supported the government and helped it to get the 21st Constitution amendment approved by parliament to set up military courts.

He said that quick dispensation of justice through military courts would help the country’s economy to develop quickly.

Referring to the threat posed by Taliban, he said the government believed in dialogue and offered them talks if they laid down arms, but they launched an attack on the Karachi airport in response to the offer of talks.

He said that at least 50,000 people had lost their lives because of acts of terror by these terrorists and the national economy had suffered a loss of billions of dollars because of the scourge.

He said the operation Zarb-i-Azb was launched for that reason and now the political and military leadership were on the same page on the issue of ridding the country of all terrorists to ensure rapid progress and development in the country.

Besides the Karachi airport attack, he said, these terrorists also launched attack near the Wagah border, killing dozens of people and then massacred schoolchildren and other staff in an attack on a Peshawar school.

About his meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Mr Sharif said that now both countries had pledged not to let their soil be used against each other to ensure fast economic development in both countries.

He said all Taliban hideouts and sanctuaries in the country had been wiped out and these steps had been appreciated by the Afghan leadership also.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2015

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