Pakistan on Thursday said that the resolution of the Kashmir dispute was necessary for regional peace, Dawn reported. At a weekly news briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said Islamabad wanted to “amicably resolve all outstanding issues” with its neighbour by inviting New Delhi for a dialogue.

Zakaria, however, also accused India of consistently violating the United Nations Charter by trespassing into Pakistan’s territorial waters. A country that cannot follow international law should not be granted membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group, he said. While India’s bid to become an NSG member has US support, China and six other countries had blocked New Delhi’s application in July. Pakistan, too, has attempted to thwart India’s efforts for NSG membership.

The spokesperson also reiterated Islamabad’s stand on the Indus Waters Treaty, saying that the Pakistani government would not accept any unilateral alterations to the treaty. “An arbitration mechanism is in place to resolve disputes regarding implementation of the treaty,” he said. On December 17, Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Tariq Fatemi said Islamabad’s position was based “on the principles enshrined in the treaty”.

Relations between the two countries have deteriorated in recent months. India has said that there has been an increase in ceasefire violations after it carried out surgical strikes on “terror launchpads” along the Line of Control with Pakistan. On September 18, militants had attacked an Indian Army installation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri sector, on which 19 soldiers were killed. India had accused Pakistan of being involved in the strike, but Islamabad had dismissed the allegations as “baseless”.