India should not shy away from 'contentious' issues: Pak envoy

Pakistan today said India should not shy away from dealing with "contentious" issues like Jammu and Kashmir which need to be resolved for the two countries to move on.
Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit also said first four-five months of the new government will be important and will determine how the bilateral ties will go forward.
"It (J&K) is an important issue and government of India has to fulfil its commitment given to the world. It is part of the composite dialogue. We should not shy away from contentious issues. When we will deal with each of the issues, we will be able to move forward," he said in an interaction with members of the Press Club of India.

Basit said there was a national consensus in Pakistan to have normal friendly relations and Islamabad was willing to engage with the new government in New Delhi.
"But there cannot be pre-condition for any talks," he said, adding Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the new government in India have come to power with decisive mandate and they were in a position to take "decisive decisions".
"The next 4-5 months are important... How things move forward," he said.

Asked whether there is possibility of 'third party intervention' to resolve bilateral issues, Basit said countries like the US always encourage India and Pakistan to have dialogue but "at the end of the day, the two countries have to sit together and discuss".

Asked to flag issues which are doable, the High Commissioner said all issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, Siachen, trade and cultural issue, can be discussed and all issues are doable.
"We have been engaged in composite dialogue process. All can be discussed and everything is doable. Once the process is started, we will progress. One cannot expect progress in each areas but there are many areas where we can move forward. There are areas where we can move fast while there are areas where longer time will be taken to resolve issues.