NEW DELHI: Pakistan High Commissioner to New Delhi Abdul Basit said “Pakistan is not begging for dialogue. If India is not ready, we can always wait.“
In an interview with The Hindu on Friday said, Basit while discussing the increasing hostility between India and Pakistan, highlighted “the need to break the impasse” between the two countries.
He said “Talking to each other is inevitable. Whether it happens one year down the road or three years down the road.”
The interview took place days before Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz is due to lead a Pakistani delegation at the Heart of Asia conference being held in Amritsar this Sunday.
The Pakistani high commissioner said that Islamabad remains open to “any proposal for talks from the Indian side,” adding that during the conference, attention must remain on Afghanistan.
“Whether or not there are bilateral talks, our adviser is coming because Afghanistan is important for us, its stability and economy are important for us so we will participate constructively,” Basit said.
Meanwhile, Indian Minister of External Affairs Vikas Swarup, however, ruled out any possibility of talks with Pakistan on the sidelines of the up-coming conference a day earlier.
