Published on: August 23, 2025 2:41 AM
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday said that Pakistan had not requested anyone to make India sit down for talks of any kind.
“Pakistan did not ask anyone to arrange talks with India. Pakistan is ready for comprehensive talks with India, including on the Kashmir issue,” he told journalists at Parliament House. Talking about the May conflict between the two countries and the subsequent ceasefire, he said the latter was still underway.
Talking about the halt in hostilities, Dar said: “India had requested the US for a ceasefire. I received a call from the US for a ceasefire. I had made it clear that Pakistan did not want war.”
The foreign minister said that Pakistan had been suggested to sit down at a neutral venue for talks, to which he had expressed his willingness to do so.
“I had made it clear that there will be no discussion on any single-point agenda with India. We will discuss all outstanding issues, including the Kashmir issue with India,” he said, adding that “unnecessary rhetoric” continued flowing from India meanwhile. He also said a visit by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Pakistan was not yet scheduled.
Separately, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar lauded the media for its role in countering Indian narratives during the military confrontation and praised it for delivering the country’s message to the world in the face of a much larger media apparatus in India.
Addressing a meeting of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) in Islamabad, Tarar labelled that period as “extraordinary circumstances”.
“Right from the beginning, it was a war of narratives,” he highlighted. “The enemy had greater resources, international interest, lobbying and PR firms. International media outlets had employees of Indian origin because of their greater population.”
The minister stated that Pakistan’s strength was not in numbers or resources, but in “having the truth”.
“The truth cannot hide or be countered,” Tarar stated. “While the prime minister asked for an inquiry into the Pahalgam attack at Kakul, India was levelling allegations without evidence.”
