Resolving J&K dispute crucial for peace in South Asia: Imran Khan's reply to PM Modi's letter

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New Delhi: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that resolving Jammu and Kashmir dispute is crucial for peace and stability in South Asia.

Khan said this in a reply to PM Narendra Modi's letter to him last week extending greetings on Pakistan Day.

Modi had said that India desires cordial relations with Pakistan but an atmosphere of trust, devoid of terror and hostility, is "imperative" for it.

In his letter, Khan wrote that saying creation of an "enabling environment" is imperative for a constructive and result-oriented dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues between Pakistan and India.

"We are convinced that durable peace and stability in South Asia is contingent upon resolving all outstanding issues between India and Pakistan in particular the Jammu and Kashmir dispute," Khan wrote in the letter dated March 29.

Khan wrote that the people of Pakistan desire peaceful, cooperative relations with all neighbours, including India.

He also expressed best wishes for the people of India in their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier, the militaries of both countries announced agreed to strictly observe all agreements on ceasefire along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir and other sectors.

Weeks later, both PM Khan and Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa made peace overtures towards New Delhi saying it was time for the two neighbours to "bury the past and move forward".

Ties between India and Pakistan nose-dived after a terror attack on the Pathankot Air Force base in 2016 by terror groups based in Pakistan.

Subsequent attacks, including one on an Indian Army camp in Uri, further deteriorated the relationship.

The ties hit rock bottom after India's war planes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp deep inside Pakistan on February 26, 2019, in response to the Pulwama terror attack in 2019 in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed.