NEW DELHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th September, 2022) Pakistan and India should resolve the issue of disputed Jammu and Kashmir by peaceful means, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday.
"Pakistan's urgent priority right now is to ensure rapid economic growth and lift millions out of poverty and hunger. To enable any such policy momentum, Pakistan needs a stable external environment. We look for peace with all our neighbors including India. Sustainable peace and stability in South Asia, however, remains contingent upon a just and lasting solution of Jammu and Kashmir dispute," Sharif said in his speech at the 77th United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The prime minister noted India should realize that trying to resolve the issue by war rather than by diplomacy would hamper the development of the two countries, leading to poverty and unemployment.
India and Pakistan have fought several wars over Kashmir since gaining independence in 1947. However, their ties hit rock bottom in 2019 after the Indian government stripped the Jammu and Kashmir state of its special status and broke it up into two union territories.
India controls the southern part of the Kashmir region, while Pakistan and China hold its northwestern and northeastern parts, respectively.
