“Time to bury the past and move forward”: COAS Bajwa says on Pakistan-India ties
Kashmir remains the key to lasting peace in the region and peace will remain elusive until the resolution of the Kashmir issue, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa suggested.
Addressing the audience on day two of the first-ever Islamabad Security Dialogue, Gen Bajwa said that it was time for India and Pakistan to “bury the past and move forward”.
Pakistan-India ties key to unlock region’s potential
Pakistan army chief maintained that stable Pakistan-India relations were the key to unlocking the potential of South and Central Asia by ensuring connectivity between East and West Asia.
Pakistan is willing to further contribute to regional peace and prosperity but “The vision, however, remains incomplete without a stable and peaceful South Asia.”
Acknowledging that South Asia remains among the least integrated regions of the world in terms of trade infrastructure water and energy cooperation, he said: “On top of it, despite being impoverished, we end up spending a lot of our money on defense, which naturally comes at the expense of human development,” he added.
Gen. Bajwa also felt that South Asia has done little in terms of infrastructure and human development due to the heavy expenditures on defense. “On top of it, despite being impoverished, we end up spending a lot of our money on defense, which naturally comes at the expense of human development,” he added.
“We have realized that unless our own house is in order, nothing good could be expected from outside,” Bajwa said.
India must act responsibly
The army chief also believes that our eastern neighbor India needs to act responsibly due to the situation in Afghanistan and its effects on the entire region.
“Our efforts for peace in Afghanistan and the responsible and mature behavior with the crisis situation with India manifests our desire to change the geopolitical contestation to geo-economic integration,” he said.
The COAS also said that Pakistan avoided an arms race despite of the terrorism that took place over the years. “Our long campaign against the tide of terrorism and extremism manifests our resolve and will,” Bajwa said. He also believed that “we are a bit short of our final objective but we are determined to stay the course”.
Looking beyond CPEC
He also said that while CPEC is central to Pakistan’s vision, it is not the only aspect that should be used to view the country by others. “Our sincerer effort to make it inclusive, transparent, and attractive for all global and regional players with the aim of bringing its benefit to everyone,” he said. “Let me also emphasize that while CPEC remains central to our vision, only seeing Pakistan through the CPEC prism is also misleading.”
“Our efforts for peace in Afghanistan and the responsible and mature behavior with the crisis situation with India manifests our desire to change the geopolitical contestation to geo-economic integration,” he said.