General Qamar Javed Bajwa
Photographer: Farooq Naeem / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Farooq Naeem / AFP / Getty Images
Pakistan’s powerful army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, has asked India ‘to bury the past and move forward’, in rare comments that came a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan urged New Delhi to move towards peace by resolve issues surrounding the Kashmir region.
The nuclear-armed countries fought three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over the region of the Himalayas. The area is divided between the two and claimed by both in its entirety. Their relationship hit the worst roadblock in recent years after a suicide attack in Indian Kashmir in February 2019 killed 40 soldiers. India has retaliated with airstrikes on suspected terrorist camps in Pakistan, which they say are operating according to Islamabad’s tacit blessings. Pakistan has always denied supporting terrorist groups.
Both countries withdrew their envoys later that year after India revoked the constitutional autonomy of its Jammu-Kashmir state.
Pakistani Prime Minister Khan urges India to move towards peace
“We are prepared to improve our environment by resolving all our outstanding issues with our neighbors through dialogue,” the army chief said. ‘But for the resumption of the peace process or a meaningful dialogue, our neighbor will have to create a favorable environment’, especially in India’s part of Kashmir.
Bajwa’s remarks during the Islamabad security dialogue are important as the army, which rules about half of its history directly in Pakistan, has an extraordinary role in Khan’s government, with input on foreign policy and security issues.
The peace attacks follow an unusual joint statement by military commanders from India and Pakistan last month in which they renewed vows to honor a 2003 ceasefire in Kashmir.
“We have learned from the past to develop and are prepared to move forward into a new future,” Bajwa said. “However, it all depends on reciprocity.”