New Delhi/ Islamabad | Jagran News Desk: Shehbaz Sharif, the younger brother of Nawaz Sharif, on Monday was elected as the next Prime Minister of Pakistan after the ouster of Imran Khan. 70-year-old Shehbaz, the chairperson of the Pakistan Muslim League (N), might help India and Pakistan reset their nearly frozen bilateral ties, which have been stalled after Imran Khan came to power in 2018.
Imran, the 69-year-old cricketer-turned-politician, has been a staunch critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government which did not help New Delhi to hold talks with Islamabad. Besides, India's cross-border strikes in Pakistan and abrogation of Article 370 further strained ties between the two nations.
However, Shehbaz, who is considered to have close ties with the Pakistani army, has said he wants peace with India, but not without a resolution of the Kashmir issue. "I would start a new era in the country and promote mutual respect," he told Geo News in Islamabad.
Notably, Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has recently also said that Pakistan wants to resolve all differences with India, including Kashmir, peacefully through dialogue.
"Pakistan continues to believe in using dialogue and diplomacy to resolve all outstanding issues including the Kashmir dispute and is ready to move forward on this front if India agrees to do so," he had said few days back at an event.
Political analyst Dr Hassan Askari also believes that a new government in Pakistan might allow New Delhi and Islamabad resume dialogues which are suspended from 2014. "Since India suspended the talks, the responsibility for its revival also lies on India. No government in Pakistan has opposed a meaningful dialogue," news agency PTI quoted Askari as saying.
Interestingly, Imran Khan had also promised to rebuild ties with India when he came to power in 2018, but the two countries were at the brink of a war in 2019 after the deadly Pulwama attack and the subsequent Balakot air strikes conducted by New Delhi in response to the attack.
The ties strained further after PM Modi's government revoked Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into two union territories (UTs) - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Pakistan has repeatedly criticised India's move and tried to raise the Kashmir issue at the United Nations (UN). However, India has told Pakistan that Jammu and Kashmir "was, is and shall forever" remain an integral part of the country.