World news: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that dialogue was needed to resolve tensions between India and Pakistan. The remark came during a meeting of both leaders in Riyadh on Sunday (April 7), news agency Reuters reported. Sharif was on his first overseas tour since winning the controversial general elections in February this year. A joint statement by the Pakistan’s foreign office and the Saudi government said that discussions were held on resolving the issues between India and Pakistan.

“The two sides stressed the importance of dialogue between Pakistan and India to resolve the outstanding issues between the two countries, especially the Jammu and Kashmir dispute to ensure peace and stability in the region,” the statement said.

India has longstanding friendly relations with Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, which have strengthened under Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is widely expected to win a third term in office in elections starting April 19.

India-Pakistan tensions

Tensions between India and Pakistan remain as the latter continues to support terrorism, with cross-border infiltration attempts being made every now and then in Jammu and Kashmir. 

India has been clear on its stance that talks and terror cannot go hand-in-hand and criticised Islamabad’s objection to the abrogation of Article 370 which gave special status to erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir till August 5, 2019.

India’s relations with Pakistan worsened after the Uri terror attack in 2016 and Pulwama terror attack in 2019, after which India retaliated with surgical strike and airstrike in reply to respective instances.

(With Reuters inputs)

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