ISLAMABAD -UNS: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said Pakistan was ready to hold talks with its “neighbour” on serious issues as wars were not an option anymore.
“We are prepared to talk to them, provided that the neighbour is serious to talk [on] serious matters … because war is no more an option,” he said in an apparent reference to India while addressing a summit on mineral development in Islamabad.
The premier further stated that “Pakistan is, thanks to God, is a nuclear power — not as an aggressor, but for our defence purposes.
“And God forbid if there is a nuclear flashpoint, who will live to tell what happened? So war is not an option.”
The prime minister pointed out that Pakistan had fought three wars in the last 75 years, which resulted in more poverty and a lack of resources. These resources, he said, could have otherwise been spent on the development and prosperity of the people.
“Is this the way that we adopt or have economic competition?”
But, he reasserted, the “neighbour has to understand that we cannot become normal neighbours unless abnormalities are removed, unless our serious issues are understood and addressed through peaceful and meaningful discussions”.
