Pakistan has always stated that it welcomes the participation of the international community, including the United States, in efforts to advance regional peace, particularly efforts to facilitate talks and a settlement of the Kashmir dispute.
When a journalist questioned whether Pakistan anticipated the US playing a mediating role that could present an opportunity to open the closed doors for dialogue between Pakistan and India, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch responded in the negative. This was said during a weekly briefing on Friday.
The spokesperson denied the allegation, which said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to visit Pakistan last year but that everything was scrapped at the last minute.
She said the new land lease rules introduced in India-held Kashmir allowing non-Kashmiris to purchase agricultural land for commercial and other non-agricultural purposes was another manifestation of India’s colonial-settler mindset.
Separately, the Pentagon reported that US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III had a phone conversation on Friday with Chief of Army Staff Gen. Asim Munir.
As stated in the brief statement, Secretary Austin “addressed areas of common interest as well as recent regional events” with Gen. Munir after congratulating him on his appointment as army chief.
