Aziz raises Kashmir issue at Asia Europe Summit

Pakistan Prime Minister's Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz today raised the Kashmir issue here at the Asia-Europe Meeting Summit, saying root cause of conflicts need to be addressed and "tragic events in Jammu and Kashmir and Palestine" are examples of such failure.
Aziz, Head of Pakistan Delegation at the Plenary Session II of the 11th ASEM Summit, said, "In this challenging and complex world, we do occasionally hear good news that revive our hope in the future -- elimination of chemical weapons from Syria, the Iranian nuclear deal, the landmark agreement on climate change, new rules for global peacekeeping and the consensus on Sustainable Development Goals for the next 15 years."

Talking about how the global community could build on successful multilateral efforts and overcome the more complex global challenges, Aziz gave two suggestions, saying, "One -- learning from our mistakes. If we look deeper, we will find that many of the problems we face today are the indirect consequences of past policies or initiatives that were launched for certain objectives that are no longer important."
"Second, addressing root causes of conflicts, specially longstanding disputes that spread desperation and lead to violent reactions. Recent tragic events in Jammu and Kashmir and Palestine are example of such failures," he said.
Aziz stressed on promoting the culture of compromise, by giving greater importance to collective interests of humanity as a whole, as long as they do not adversely affect vital national interests, according to a statement issued by the Office of Pakistan's Foreign Office Spokesperson.

He noted that in the past 20 years, since ASEM was launched, the world has become increasingly interdependent and many global multilateral and regional institutions have been striving hard to promote peace, ensure political stability and enhance human progress in all parts of the world.

"But these efforts are today overshadowed by a large number geo political conflicts, growing threats of violent extremism, forcible displacement of 60 million people, accelerated environmental degradation and rising inequality. As a result there is widespread pessimism among the common people about the present system of global governance," Aziz said.
ASEM has made a good choice in emphasizing on Connectivity at this important Summit, he noted.

Pakistan is committed to enhancing regional connectivity through improvements in its transport, trade logistics and energy sectors. The flagship project in this regard is China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), linking western China to Pakistani ports on the Arabian Sea, Aziz said.
Vice President Hamid Ansari, who is also here for the summit, today exchanged pleasantries with Aziz here amid a war of words between the two countries over the situation in Kashmir.
India and Pakistan remain locked in a war of words over the deadly unrest in Jammu and Kashmir that was triggered by the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani in an encounter on July 8.