Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has said that a peaceful resolution to disputes between India and Pakistan can be found through “comprehensive and meaningful dialogue”.

According to a press release by the Inter-Services, the media wing of Pakistan’s armed forces, Bajwa said on Saturday, “It is our sincere belief that the route to peaceful resolution of Pak-India disputes – including the core issue of Kashmir – runs through comprehensive and meaningful dialogue. While such dialogue is no favour to any party, it remains the inevitable precursor to peace across the region.”

“Pakistan remains committed to such a dialogue, but only on the basis of sovereign equality, dignity and honour,” Bajwa added, while addressing a passing out parade of cadets at the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul town in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

He also claimed that Pakistan was a peace-loving country that wanted good relations with all its neighbours, but that this should not be construed as a sign of the country’s weakness. Bajwa also affirmed the Army’s “political and moral support to the basic right of self-determination for the people of Jammu and Kashmir”.

“Those peace-loving innocent citizens are being subjected to one of the worst forms of state terrorism,” Bajwa claimed. “It is high time the world community wakes up and plays a positive role to bring peace to that unfortunate part of the subcontinent.”