Former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Saturday called out India for its “excuses” to avoid any dialogue with Pakistan to resolve their outstanding issues after recent tensions between the two countries.
Pakistan has launched a broad-based engagement campaign in the United States to present its perspective on the recent spike in tensions with India, and counter New Delhi’s growing lobbying presence there. As part of its global outreach, the team will also visit London and Brussels. The delegation comprises former foreign ministers Bilawal, Hina Rabbani Khar and Khurram Dastgir; Senators Sherry Rehman, Musadik Malik, Faisal Sabzwari and Bushra Anjum Butt; along with senior envoys Jalil Abbas Jilani and Tehmina Janjua.
Addressing a press conference in Washington after wrapping up engagements with US lawmakers and think tanks, the PPP chairman said Pakistan’s civil and military leadership were all on the same page against terrorism and believed that it was in the region’s interest to establish with India. “It is India who’s been running away from calls for an investigation and it’s been India who’s been running away from efforts for dialogue. I believe that is perhaps the lamest excuse for not having a dialogue right now,” he added.
Bilawal offered to arrange a dialogue with the military or political leadership if India wanted.
“I believe the true path forward is for India and Pakistan to engage in a dialogue to establish peace. Whatever excuse you want to make sometimes, it’s this civil military excuse, sometimes it’s this geopolitical excuse, sometimes it’s this ‘Oh all Muslims are terrorist excuse so we’re not going to talk to Pakistan’ — it’s getting [tiresome]. You can’t be two nuclear armed neighbours with a conflict threshold so low and absolutely no dispute resolution mechanism.”
Bilawal said India did not want mediation from the US or the United Nations or any interactional actor and did not even want to engage directly with Pakistan, noting that this made no rational sense.
“It’s in all our interest to convince India to undo the decision that doesn’t serve their purposes and come to the table and talk.”
Bilawal said the recent ceasefire between the two countries was only the first step.
“For durable peace in South Asia, we need to have a comprehensive dialogue with our neighbour where we address all our friction points. Indeed, when Pakistan agreed to the ceasefire, we did so on the condition that going forward, there would be a dialogue in a neutral location on all friction points.
“And we’re very confident that that is the only way forward, not only for Pakistan, but also for India. While we’re very grateful for the ceasefire, we’re cognizant of the fact that we are all, Pakistan and India, but our region and the globe, by extension, a less safe place today than we were when this conflict started.”
The former FM said the threshold for “full-blown war between two nuclear-armed powers” had been drastically decreased and was at a stage it was never before at in history.
“As things stand today, if there’s a terrorist attack anywhere in India or Indian-occupied Kashmir, proof or no proof, that means war. That doesn’t serve the interest of my country, and that certainly doesn’t serve the interests of the people of India.”
Bilawal once again said that Pakistan was ready to discuss the issue of terrorism in any “comprehensive dialogue” with India.
He stressed that if there was to be new dialogue with India and new promises and new treaties, “then it’s all the more important that we abide by our old treaties so we have confidence in each other that the new agreements that we are to make are worth more than the paper that they are written on”.
Indian disinformation during military conflict
On the topic of misinformation and disinformation during their recent conflict, Bilawal said a factor that played to Pakistan’s favour was that “we were transparent and we managed to maintain our credibility.
“We were transparent with the media, we were transparent with our public, and we were transparent with our allies. The events corroborate what we say.
“Three people are making claims in this situation, Pakistan, the United States, and India. Two of us are saying one thing, one of them is saying something else. So I think you can try to figure out who’s telling the truth. India employed disinformation not only during this conflict, they continue to employ disinformation as part of their delegations’ tool.
“They lied to the international community and their own people about this terrorist attack. To this day, they haven’t shared either with the media, with their allies, or with Pakistan, who they fought a war with, who the terrorists were that were involved with this incident in Indian-occupied Kashmir. They have not been honest or forthcoming about the damages they sustained during this conflict. They still, to this day, refuse to admit how many airplanes they lost in this conflict.”
Bilawal said that to assess who was speaking more accurately, “you can see who’s had the same line consistently, whose views are being corroborated by the statements made not only from the presidency, but also from the State Department.”
He said Pakistan prided itself on its transparency during this period, adding that the country still open to questions and probing on the facts.
“India has relied on disinformation throughout this conflict. Even during the war, the Indian media played the role of fake news and amplified some of this disinformation that originated from the Indian government.”
