Hyderabad: Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has described Article 370 as India's internal matter but emphasised the restoration of Article 35A of the Indian Constitution that guarantees demographic securities in the embattled region.
This is a major shift in Pakistan's outlook on Kashmir after the Indian government read down most parts of Article 370 and bifurcated the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories.
Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with India after the August 5, 2019 developments.
The relations between the two neighbouring countries are on a path of repair following their recent involvement in back-channel dialogue. The two countries restored a 2003 ceasefire agreement on their borders.
In an exclusive interview with a Pakistani television channel Samaa TV, Qureshi said that 370 was not important for Pakistan. "Article 35A is important for Pakistan because it is connected with our long-term interest of having a plebiscite in Kashmir," he said adding that 35A is linked to the demographic restructuring of Kashmir.
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Qureshi said that Article 370 is an internal issue and Kashmiris have resented its change. "They (Kashmiris) describe it as an attack on their special identity. There is a case pending in the Supreme Court (on the restoration of Article 370)," he said.
He said there is a large constituency in India that realizes the fallacy of the act of the Government of India on August 5, 2019. "They realize that India has lost more and gained less by this act," he said.
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Qureshi said that there was no option other than sitting on the negotiating table to restore the relations between the two nuclear powers. "War is no option. It can be suicidal. The only option is negotiations and for that, the two countries have to sit at the table," he said.
He said that he opposed the restoration of trade links with India because the foreign ministry had not been taken into confidence before an announcement was made.
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He said the military and political leadership were on the same page in Pakistan on critical national issues. "The foreign office is informed about the talks between India and Pakistan on the intelligence level," he said.
He said India and Pakistan have diverse points of view but they have to understand each other and find a way out.
