Stressing that Pakistan was "committed to a peaceful neighbourhood" and wanted "peaceful relations" with all countries in the region, including India, the government said India must create a conducive environment for dialogue and include the issue of Jammu and Kashmir in the talks on a priority basis.
“Our dialogue with India, whenever it takes place, will be based on equality, on mutual respect and with the Jammu and Kashmir dispute as a priority issue for Pakistan,” Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in their year-end press briefing.
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch also commented on the Narendra Modi government's decision to ban the Muslim League Jammu and Kashmir (Masarrat Alam faction) as an unlawful association for a period of five years.
“We urge India to forthwith lift the curbs on the banned political parties, release all political prisoners and create conditions for realization of the inalienable right of self-determination of Kashmiris in accordance with the United Nations Security Council resolutions,” she said while answering a query of a media person.
The Muslim League Jammu and Kashmir (Masarrat Alam faction) is the fifth Kashmiri party banned under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act after the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, Jamaat e Islami Jammu and Kashmir, Dukhtaran-e-Millat and Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party, the Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson observed.
However, she dodged a question on whether India had asked Pakistan to hand over Hafiz Saeed, the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, saying "the question is based on speculative reports and we do not want to comment on speculative reports".