Pakistan on Friday said it would welcome any help from the US or any other country to resolve the Kashmir issue. Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan made the remarks during his weekly press briefing in response to a question about US interest in the Kashmir issue.”About the US’ interest in settlement of the Kashmir issue, we welcome help not only from the US but any country which can help stabilise the situation and move towards resolution of the Kashmir dispute, which is at the heart of issues of peace and security in South Asia. We will welcome that,” he said.India maintains that it does not want any third-party involvement in its discussions with Pakistan. The Simla Agreement, signed between the two countries in 1972 rejects any third-party mediation on the Kashmir issue.
To a question about any contact between Pakistan and India to resolve issues after their four-day conflict in May, Khan said there was no such contact but added that “we welcome the US’ interest to work with the two sides for the resolution of this issue”.“Our overall diplomatic position is well known. We want to take the route of diplomacy, but it is the Indian side which has to make up its mind. And so far, there are no contacts between our two sides, except for the routine diplomatic contact,” he said.India has made it clear that it will only have a dialogue with Pakistan on the return of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the issue of terrorism.Talking about the terrorism in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, he said Pakistan highlighted the issue of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan on several occasions.He also rejected speculation about any secret agreement with the US to extract minerals. “There is no question of any secret agreements or Pakistan compromising on its national interest. At the same time, there is a mechanism through which we invite Foreign Investment,” he said.He also rejected as “baseless” the allegations of the involvement of Pakistani nationals in the Ukraine conflict and said the Ukrainian authorities have not formally approached Islamabad on the issue.
