WNAM REPORT: Former President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and former Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States and the United Nations, Sardar Masood Khan, has stated that while Pakistan remains committed to dialogue and peaceful engagement with India, any future process must remain firmly anchored in the core disputes of Jammu and Kashmir and the Indus Waters Treaty.
Speaking in a televised interview on evolving Pakistan-India relations, Sardar Masood Khan said that both countries are destined to coexist as neighbours for centuries and therefore structured dialogue and confidence-building measures should continue. However, he cautioned that people-to-people contacts and cultural exchanges must not become a substitute for addressing the central political disputes between the two countries.
He observed that recent statements emerging from Indian political and strategic circles, including voices linked to the RSS and former military leadership, indicate that India may be reconsidering limited engagement with Pakistan under growing international pressure. According to him, countries including the United States, Gulf states and European partners have encouraged India to avoid perpetual hostility and to reopen channels of communication with Pakistan.
Sardar Masood Khan noted that despite continuing hostile rhetoric from Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh regarding “Operation Sindoor,” there appear to be parallel efforts within India advocating negotiations and calibrated engagement. He explained that India traditionally follows two parallel approaches: one involving negotiations on contentious issues such as Kashmir and water disputes, and the second focused on expanding people-to-people contacts, cultural exchanges, tourism and trade while sidelining difficult political questions.
He stressed that Pakistan must proceed with clarity and caution and should not allow what he termed “political and strategic amnesia” regarding India’s actions in August 2019, including demographic and constitutional changes in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. He added that while easing visa restrictions, improving travel arrangements and promoting limited exchanges could help reduce tensions, Pakistan must continue to keep Kashmir and the Indus Waters Treaty at the centre of all substantive discussions.
Discussing regional diplomacy, Sardar Masood Khan expressed the view that India would likely participate in upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation engagements hosted by Pakistan, warning that boycotting regional forums would further weaken India’s standing in its own neighbourhood. He recalled previous high-level participation by Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in regional meetings hosted in Pakistan.
Commenting on broader regional developments, he said China’s growing diplomatic role in the Iran crisis and its coordination with regional states, including Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, demonstrated the emergence of a more multipolar regional order in Asia.
