Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has suggested a deeper economic engagement with India to ensure influence on New Delhi's policymaking on a number of issues.
The minister supported the argument favouring trade ties with India by explaining the ongoing tensions between China and the US. He said a deeper economic engagement between Washington and Beijing is one of the reasons why the conflict between them didn't get as bad as many might have predicted.
"If we follow the 'cut your nose despite your face' policy [sic] and we (India and Pakistan) don't even have that strong economic engagement, then perhaps we are in a position where we are less able to impact and effect Indian policy making," Bhutto said while speaking at the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad.
The Pakistan Peoples Party politician said the economic engagement gives the countries significant leverage to impact each other's policies, which can also lead to a better mutual understanding of conflicting issues.
Pakistan's trade ties with India remained halted since August 2019, when the Narendra Modi government revoked the special status of the disputed erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. Islamabad accused the Narendra Modi government of violating the Indian Constitution, the United Nations Security Council resolutions on Kashmir, and the Simla Agreement between India and Pakistan.
The newly appointed foreign minister has also pushed for a direct conversation with the Indian government, questioning the policy of talking through media over contentious decisions such as "Kashmir" or alleged "anti-Muslim" sentiments.
"If I am not talking to the government of India and talking to them through media, then am I able to actually, effectively impact any sort of change in their policy?" he asked, wondering if cutting off all engagement would serve Pakistan's interests and objectives.
Bilawal, however, stressed that India's "incredible assault" on Pakistan's position on Kashmir and recent Islamophobic remarks by BJP officials made it "very difficult, if not possible," for Islamabad to re-engage with Delhi.
Kashmir has been a bone of contention between rivals India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947, as both claim it in full but govern only part of it.