New Delhi, Mar 23 (PTI) Peaceful relations between Pakistan and India can only be established based on equality, mutual respect and harmonious settlement of all disputes, a Pakistani envoy said here on Monday.
Addressing the Pakistan Day event, Saad Ahmad Warraich, Charge d’Affaires of Pakistan to India, raked up the Kashmir issue and called for a “just settlement” on it.
Pakistan Day was commemorated at the country’s High Commission in New Delhi on Monday.
Warraich hoisted the Pakistani national flag during the ceremony held at the Chancery Lawns, according to a statement issued by the high commission.
He was quoted in the statement as saying that peaceful relations between Pakistan and India “can only be established based on equality, mutual respect and peaceful settlement of all disputes.” “A just settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions and aspirations of the Kashmiri people was intrinsic to this end,” the envoy said.
India has been maintaining that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan while insisting that the onus is on Islamabad to create an environment free of terror and hostility for such engagement.
New Delhi has also been stressing that the entire Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and Pakistan has been illegally occupying parts of the Union territory.
In his remarks, the charge d’Affaires said the Lahore Resolution of March 23, 1940 “served as a touchstone for the Muslims of the subcontinent to strive for a separate homeland of their own”.
He said under Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s leadership, “this collective aspiration” found expression in the establishment of Pakistan within a short span of seven years.
Paying homage to the martyrs of the freedom movement, Warraich emphasised that their “exalted sacrifice serves as a living inspiration for the nation” to uphold the precious gift of freedom and to make tireless efforts for the progress and prosperity of the country.
The charge d’Affaires underscored that the abiding lesson of history was that “only those nations were truly free who were strong enough to defend their freedom”.
“The entire world is witness to Pakistan’s unwavering resolve to preserve and protect its sovereignty and independence,” he said without elaborating.
Warraich said, “Pakistan’s established deterrence was not only a factor of stability in South Asia, but was also an assurance for regional peace”.
Officers and Staff of the High Commission along with their families attended the event.
Messages of president, prime minister and the deputy prime minister of Pakistan were read out on the occasion, the statement said. PTI KND SKY SKY
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