ISLAMABAD, June 9: Pakistan’s high-level delegation led by former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has arrived in the UK following diplomatic engagements in New York over the recent military conflict with India, a media report said.
The nine-member group on Sunday held talks with United Nations representatives, diplomats from member states, and senior US officials to present Pakistan’s narrative on the conflict following the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives, The Express Tribune reported.
In response to the Pahalgam terror attack, India targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, following which Islamabad resorted to military action, leading to clashes between the two countries’ military.
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“Our message was clear – Pakistan seeks peace,” former foreign secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani, a member of the delegation, said here.
Jilani said Islamabad sought the resolution of all issues, including the Indus Waters Treaty, through dialogue.
Speaking to the media, lawmaker Khurram Dastgir highlighted the regional impact of the water dispute and called for the restoration of the 1960 World Bank-mediated treaty, which India said remained in abeyance until Islamabad ended its support for cross-border terrorism.
“We explained to US officials that India’s suspension of the treaty endangers the livelihood of 240 million people and undermines the region’s stability,” he said.
Dastgir stressed the water dispute was a matter of survival for Pakistan, asserting the country would not compromise on it.
He pointed out that the Americans initially assumed the ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump required no further involvement. “Our mission was to make them understand that intervention is necessary as India wants neither a neutral inquiry nor talks,” Dastgir said.
Trump claimed to have played a role in stopping hostilities between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam attack, a claim rejected by India.
New Delhi has rejected a third-party intervention on bilateral issues with Islamabad.
Senator Sherry Rehman, another member of the group, said the mission was focused on advocating for peace and ensuring the water treaty and Kashmir issue remained on the international agenda.
In the UK, the delegation is expected to meet senior British officials to highlight Pakistan’s stance on the conflict and its broader implications.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy recently visited both Islamabad and New Delhi.
“We want stability, but recognise the fragility of the situation, particularly in the context of terrorism,” Lammy had said in Pakistan. (PTI)
