India should resolve Kashmir issue through political means: Pak army chief

Islamabad : India should resolve the Kashmir issue through “political and diplomatic” means rather than “abusing” Pakistan, army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa has said. Bajwa, while addressing a Defence Day gathering in Rawalpindi last night, said people of South Asia need peace for prosperity.

Accusing India of “killing” innocent people on the LoC, he said the country should give peace a chance. “It is in interest of India that for a durable solution to the issues (in Kashmir), it should prefer political and diplomatic process instead of abusing Pakistan and using bullets against Kashmiris,” the Chief of Army Staff said.

Bajwa said Pakistan wants to address the Kashmir issue through dialogue. “Welfare of millions of people of these two countries is linked with permanent peace. But for it to happen, it is necessary that innocent and unarmed people on the LoC are not targeted through a planned way,” he said.

Pakistan will continue to extend “political, moral, and diplomatic support” to Kashmiris for their right to self- determination in line with the UN Security Council resolutions, he said. He accused India of trying to destabilise Pakistan through “militancy and usurping its share of water”.

The army chief also claimed that Pakistan was a responsible nuclear state. “Our nuclear programme is just a deterrent against the enemy that introduced this unconventional war in the region,” he said. Bajwa said that Pakistan was against terrorism.

“We are against war and terrorism. We want relationship with all countries based on mutual respect and equality,” he said. Pakistan celebrates the Defence Day to mark the 1965 war with India.