LONDON: Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has stated that Pakistan may explore restoring commercial links with India, which have been frozen since August 2019 when the Narendra Modi-led government abolished the special status of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
“Pakistani businessmen want trade with India to resume,” the foreign minister told the media at the Pakistan High Commission in London on Saturday, marking the end of his visit to the United Kingdom and Europe.
Pakistan cut ties with India when the Modi-led government unilaterally modified the special status of the occupied valley in August 2019, a decision Islamabad saw as undermining the environment for bilateral negotiations.
Pakistan’s decision to normalize relations with India is tied to the reinstatement of the IIOJK’s special status. Despite their strained relations, the two countries agreed to renew the 2003 cease-fire agreement along the Line of Control (LoC) in February 2021.
Recently, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Shehbaz Sharif on becoming the head of Pakistan’s government, raising hopes for a diplomatic thaw.
“Congratulations to [Shehbaz Sharif] on being sworn in as the Prime Minister of Pakistan,” Modi posted in a quick message on X, formerly Twitter.
Shehbaz Sharif responded days later with an equally caustic post, thanking Modi for his “felicitations.”.
