War in South Asia Must Be Avoided: MusharrafPakistan's Chief Executive General Parvez Musharraf Friday said that war in the region must be avoided as no sane person can think of war in this modern age."The war should be avoided through potent deterrence and diplomacy and we should engage India on the issue of Kashmir for bringing permanent peace in the region without compromising our sovereignty", Musharraf declared while delivering a speech enunciating his views on Pakistan's foreign policy at the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs (PIIA) here. He identified five determinants which shapes the foreign policy of Pakistan, including security of Pakistan, its economic interests, international concerns including CTBT, its own ideological interests and upholding of principles on issues like Kashmir with which, he said, "we are concerned since our independence". Declaring that the security issue is the primary concern of Pakistan, he said "there is a threat to Pakistan from India. The threat is not Kashmir alone. It goes little beyond that". "As far as Kashmir is concerned, the issue is not only a threat to our security interest but also upholding of our principles," he added. |
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