Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party and former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Thursday that Pakistan was ready to pursue peace with India but insisted that any meaningful engagement must begin with New Delhi honouring past agreements, particularly the Indus Waters Treaty.
Speaking at the Middle East Institute in Washington, Mr Bhutto-Zardari said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had constituted a delegation with a clear mission: to seek peace through dialogue and diplomacy with India. “You might ask why we are here in Washington and not speaking to our adversary… they refuse to talk,” he said, pointing to India’s persistent unwillingness to engage.
The PPP chairman emphasised that while Pakistan is open to new arrangements, agreements, and even treaties with India, progress can only be made if India first honours its existing commitments. “If our dialogue and diplomacy in pursuit of peace are to be successful… then surely they must first abide by the old treaties and take back their decision, viz-a-viz the Indus Water Treaty,” he said.
He criticised the Indian government’s attitude toward dialogue and cooperation, noting that it had declined Pakistan’s calls for joint investigations into acts of terrorism, rejected former US President Donald Trump’s offer to mediate, and continues to rebuff Pakistan’s overtures.
“India has belligerently refused. They refused cooperation on terror — you saw it. The Prime Minister of Pakistan said let’s have an investigation, they said no. They refuse mediation, they refuse dialogue,” said the PPP chairman.
He warned that such a refusal to engage in diplomacy would only escalate tensions. “All that means is there will be more terrorism, there will be more war, and there will be no peace.”
He added that while the Indian government may be willing to condemn its people to a perpetual state of conflict, Pakistan would not follow suit. “I refuse to damn my people, and I refuse to damn the people of India to this fate.”
Bilawal said this is why the Pakistani delegation would continue travelling “from capital to capital” with a simple and urgent message: “We want peace, and we need your help.”
