Pakistan says ready for dialogue with India on all issues in ‘dignified manner, will not beg’

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday said the country was ready for a composite dialogue with India on all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, in a “dignified and respectful manner.” He stressed that “Pakistan will not beg for talks” while asserting readiness to engage through the framework that was initiated in 2003 under General Pervez Musharraf.

India has maintained its position that dialogue with Pakistan can only take place on two issues — the return of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) and terrorism. The composite dialogue, which had eight baskets covering contentious issues, was suspended after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 166 people were killed.

The recent exchange of hostilities earlier this year has further strained relations. On April 22, a terror attack in Pahalgam claimed 26 lives. In response, India launched precision strikes under Operation Sindoor on May 7 targeting terror camps in nine locations across PoJK and Pakistan’s Punjab province. According to Indian officials, the strikes killed over a hundred terrorists.

Between May 8 and May 10, Pakistan attempted retaliatory strikes on Indian military bases. The Indian armed forces carried out counter-attacks on several Pakistani military installations, damaging multiple facilities. On May 10, both sides reached an understanding to cease hostilities after four days of cross-border drone, missile, and artillery exchanges. The agreement followed a request for ceasefire by Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations to his Indian counterpart.

Addressing the media, Dar said, “Pakistan is ready for a composite dialogue with India in a dignified and respectful manner on all outstanding issues, including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute as per its longstanding position.” He also stated that Pakistani forces “proved their prowess in the air and on land” during the conflict and warned that Pakistan was “ready to respond with full force to India in case any aggression is committed, even through sea.”