Pakistan today linked peace in war-torn Afghanistan to the resolution of the Kashmir issue, saying a solution to both is required for peace and they cannot be “compartmentalized”.
“Road to peace in Kabul lies in Kashmir in the sense that when you talk of peace, you cannot compartmentalize peace, you can’t segregate a section… ok you can have peace in Kabul and let Kashmir burn. That is not going to happen,” Agencies quoted Pakistan Prime Minister’s special envoy on Kashmir Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed saying.
“So you (US) talk of a comprehensive peace settlement, so let the people of South Asia not be hostage to the hostility of the past. Let them move forward,” said Syed, Chairman of the Pakistan Senate’s Defence and Defence Production Committee said during an interaction at Washington-based think-tank Stimson Centre.
Accompanied by Shezra Mansab, a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, as Special Envoys of Pakistan Prime Minister on Kashmir, Mansab said the core issue this time is Kashmir and no peace can prevail in the region, if this issue is not solved.
“It is an international dispute. It is not an internal problem. The stakes are very high now, we are nuclear neighbours so we need to have peace on the issue of Kashmir and then rest of the things can be solved,” Mansab said.