ISLAMABAD: Former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari lambasted India for attempting to “sabotage President Donald Trump’s peace efforts” in South Asia, stressing that Pakistan was willing to solve all issues through dialogue.
His statement came against the backdrop of Pakistan’s recent conflict with India triggered by a deadly April 22 attack on tourists in Occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam. New Delhi, without evidence, accused Islamabad of backing the attackers — an allegation that led to a four-day military escalation between the two nuclear-armed countries before the United States brokered a ceasefire on May 10.
To present Pakistan’s stance on the escalation and dismiss Indian propaganda, the government constituted a high-level delegation, chaired by Bilawal, to visit major world powers. After holding meetings in the US, the delegation is now in the United Kingdom, after which it will head to the Belgian capital of Brussels to hold talks with the members of the European Commission.
Addressing a press conference at the Pakistan High Commission in London, Bilawal said, “India wants to sabotage President Trump’s peace efforts, but its efforts will be in vain. The US will, if required, drag India to the table as it in the global interest that India and Pakistan make peace for regional stability and move towards development.”
The PPP chairman added that the recent conflict with India had turned the Kashmir dispute into a global issue despite New Delhi’s attempts to call it an “internal matter.”
“During this war, there has been progress regarding Kashmir on the diplomatic front. In 2019, India thought it had turned Kashmir into an internal matter. When Trump said there should be mediation on Kashmir, the issue is now a global issue. India has been forced to accept that Kashmir is a bilateral issue.”
A day earlier, the US Department of State reiterated President Trump’s resolve to work on the Kashmir dispute, saying each step that he takes “is made to solve generational differences between countries”.
Responding to a question on the steps US plans to take in the wake of Trump’s offer, State Department’s spokesperson Tammy Bruce during a press briefing noted, “So, while I can’t speak to his plans, the world knows his nature, and I can’t speak to any details of what he might have in that regard.”
He said the delegation held a meeting with members of the All Parties Kashmir Conference at the British House of Commons, who accepted that the issue has been globalised and they can speak about it.
