Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Muhammad Ishaq Dar, has announced that the country will “seriously” explore resuming economic links with India, which had been halted since August 2019. This suggests a probable shift in diplomatic policy towards the neighboring country.
Dar made these statements at a news conference in London after attending the Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels, according to Geo News. He emphasized the willingness of Pakistan’s cash-strapped business community to restore economic relations with India.
“Pakistani businessmen want trade with India to resume,” the foreign minister stated on Saturday. Pakistan will explore resuming trading relations with India, he stated. “We will seriously look into matters of trade with India,” Dar said, according to the Express Tribune.
His words suggested a probable shift in diplomatic position towards India.
Pakistan reduced diplomatic ties with New Delhi when the Indian government repealed Article 370 of the Constitution, abolishing Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and dividing the state into two Union Territories.
Islamabad said that the decision weakened the climate for neighbourly relations.
Pakistan has insisted that India bears the responsibility for repairing relations and has urged it to reverse its “unilateral” actions in Kashmir as a precondition for beginning discussions.
India making things clear to Pakistan
India has rejected the offer and made it plain to Pakistan that the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh are vital and inalienable components of the nation.
New Delhi has also claimed that the Indian government’s constitutional actions to foster socioeconomic development and good administration in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir are domestic affairs.
It has maintained that it wishes to have regular neighbourly ties with Pakistan, while arguing that Islamabad must establish an atmosphere free of terror and enmity in order for such interaction to take place.
Despite their strained relations, the two nations agreed to extend the 2003 cease-fire agreement along the Line of Control (LoC) in February 2021.
Narendra Modi on X
Recently, in a post on X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Shehbaz Sharif on becoming the leader of Pakistan’s cabinet, raising expectations for a diplomatic thaw.
Sharif answered days later with a similarly caustic message, thanking Modi for his “felicitations”.
The Sharif-led coalition government took office following the February 8 elections, but it began its tenure with a deteriorating economy that requires quick attention.
