Pak High Commissioner bats for 'dialogue' to resolve outstanding issues

Referring to the tensions between India-Pakistan relation as "long winter", Pakistan High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood stated that dialogue will help resolve issues and ensure a peaceful and prosperous future.

New Delhi: Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood on Friday said that dialogue and diplomacy will help resolve long term disputes between India and Pakistan.

He said that "coercive measures" have not worked in the past to resolve the outstanding issues and that the same would not work in the future.

Mahmood spoke on the importance of dialogues between the two countries and hoped the long winter in India-Pakistan relations would come to an early end.

"Coercive measures haven't worked in past; they'll not work in future. Diplomacy and dialogue remain indispensable for enhancing mutual understanding, addressing mutual concerns and resolving long-standing disputes including Jammu and Kashmir," Mahmood said at the Pakistan National Day reception in New Delhi.

"A relationship based on sovereign equality, mutual respect and mutual interest is the best guarantee for a peaceful and prosperous future. We do hope the long winter in India-Pakistan relations would come to an early end," he added.