Pakistan is willing to resume Afghan peace talks with India, following political turmoil in India due to the general election, Pakistan’s information minister Fawad Chaudhary said on Monday.
While speaking to the Gulf News, in an interview, Chaudhary stated that the current time is unfit for holding peace talks with India due to ongoing turmoil in the Indian politics amid general election.
According to The Tribune Express news reports, Chaudhry said, “We have delayed our efforts to hold talks with India because we do not expect any big decision from the present Indian leadership.”
He added, “It is useless to talk to them [India] now unless there is some stability. We will move forward once the new government is formed after the elections.”
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has repeatedly invited India over multiple occasions to hold Afghan peace talks but New Delhi has neither accepted the request nor responded positively. However, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has alleged that Pakistan was “not going to mend its ways of promoting cross-border terrorism any time soon”.
While responding to a question, Chaudhry said: “We [Pakistan] will respect any Indian leader and the party elected by the Indian people. And, we would like to move forward to hold dialogue with whosoever comes into power in India.”
The minister further reiterated that Islamabad was playing a crucial role at an advanced level for the Afghanistan peace dialogues. He added, “Frankly, we expect a positive outcome from the negotiations between the US and Afghan Taliban.”
Referring to the United States President Donald Trump’s official letter to Imran Khan last year for peace talks, Chaudhry said a meeting between Trump and Khan would be only possible after the peace talks. He added, “We are waiting to see this happen.”