https://arab.news/gq54r
- “It is time to extend hand of peace in all directions,” Gen Bajwa says at graduation ceremony at Pakistan Air Force Academy
- Warns that Pakistan would not allow “anybody or any entity to misinterpret its desire for peace as a sign of weakness”
Islamabad: Pakistani Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said on Tuesday Pakistan and India should resolve their conflict over the disputed Kashmir region in a “dignified and peaceful manner.”
India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, and the disputed Himalayan region has again been the focus of a flare-up between the two nuclear powers in the last year. Both countries claim Kashmir in full but rule it in part.
In a rare overture of peace toward arch-rival India, the army chief said: “It is time to extend hand of peace in all directions.”
He was addressing a graduation ceremony at the Pakistan Air Force Academy in Risalpur in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Tuesday.
“Pakistan and India must also resolve the longstanding issue of Jammu and Kashmir in a dignified and peaceful manner as per the aspirations of people of Jammu and Kashmir and bring this human tragedy to its logical conclusion,” the general said.
However, he warned that Pakistan would not allow “anybody or any entity to misinterpret its desire for peace as a sign of weakness.”
“Armed Forces of Pakistan are fully capable and prepared to thwart any threat,” Bajwa said.