Bajwa wants talks, India not open to it'
The report said that the two countries will also take part in joint military drills in Russia in September
Islamabad: Pakistan Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa believes that military cooperation between Pakistan and India was the only option for prosperity, a report said.
A commentary published by UK think-tank Royal Unites Services Institute (RUSI) said that General Bajwa realised that the way to peace and prosperity in Pakistan was through military cooperation with India but New Delhi was not reciprocating approaches by senior Pakistani military officers.
The RUSI’s expert on South Asia and Middle East Kamal Alam wrote in the report published by the RUSI that it was a “historic first” that General Bajwa invited Sanjay Vishwasrao, the Indian military attaché, and his team to the Pakistan Day military parade in Islamabad this year and then General Bajwa said two weeks later that the Pakistan military wanted peace and dialogue with India.
The report said that the two countries will also take part in joint military drills in Russia in September, with Chinese participation, which showed that there was change in attitude since General Bajwa became the army chief in November 2016. It says, “These initiatives come against a background of almost weekly exchanges of fire along the Line of Control in Kashmir.”
Approaches by Pakistani military have been welcomed by some in India, because they are seen to be able to deliver on peace, said the report adding that senior Pakistani officer Lt. Gen. Aamir Riaz headed the first-ever high level contact group with India as Director-General Military Operation.
It mentioned Major General Ahmed Hayat’s so-called India Plan authored in 2013, which tried to ascertain how and when Pakistan should approach India.