Weeks after Op Sindoor, Pak PM wants 'meaningful dialogue' with India

Earlier last month too Sharif had, while in Iran and in Azerbaijan, expressed willingness to hold peace talks with India.

Published on: Jun 25, 2025, 15:55:13 IST

By HT News Desk

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Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that the country wants to hold a dialogue with India to address all outstanding issues. He expressed the views during a telephonic conversation with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday, two months after terrorists killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam.

Pakistan's prime minister Shehbaz Sharif (Reuters file photo)

Sharif said during the conversation that Pakistan would also want to hold talks over Jammu and Kashmir.

"Pakistan is ready to engage in a meaningful dialogue with India on all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, water, trade and terrorism," he was quoted as saying by Radio Pakistan.

India, however, has maintained that the only talks it can have with Pakistan will be on the subjects of terrorism and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The remark came weeks after India punished Pakistan for the terrorist attack, putting the 1960 vintage Indus Water Treaty (IWT) on abeyance and stopping all trade with Islamabad.

On May 7, India destroyed terrorist bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. India later had to cripple Pakistan's air bases in the four-day-long conflict after the latter attacked Indian civilian areas and military installations.

Sharif reiterated profound gratitude for the Kingdom’s steadfast support to Pakistan during the recent standoff with India, Radio Pakistan said.

Earlier last month too Sharif had, while in Iran and in Azerbaijan, expressed willingness to hold peace talks with India to resolve all outstanding issues, including Kashmir, terrorism, water and trade.

Also read: Nations no longer expect Pakistan to come with a ‘begging bowl’ but to engage in trade: Shehbaz Sharif

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also said that the Indus Water Treaty will remain in abeyance till the time Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support to cross-border terrorism "just like Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: 'terror and talks cannot go together, terror and trade cannot go together, and water and blood cannot flow together'."

With inputs from PTI

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