Moment of hope which must be seized, not squandered: Pak high commissioner

With Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) sure to shape the new government, Pakistan has described the election end result as a second of hope and opportunity in Indo-Pak members of the family which had to be seized and no longer squandered.

In an unique interplay with TOI, Pakistan top commissioner Sohail Mahmood mentioned the need to replace outdated lenses, and to re-think the entrenched narratives of the past, cannot be stressed out enough.

Mahmood's feedback follow Khan's India outreach in his victory speech wherein he, while underlining the importance of the Kashmir factor for Pakistan, had mentioned that Pakistan was once ready to take 2 steps forward if India took one for normalisation of ties.

``There is a new fact in Pakistan,'' mentioned Mahmood, in his first feedback because the election results.

“I'm hoping the media and experts would assist support the gap for diplomacy and dialogue. This is some other second of hope and opportunity in India-Pakistan members of the family. It must be seized, no longer squandered. We must guard towards disbelief or cynicism and employ the power of positive considering,’’ he added.

Mahmood mentioned this was once the time to believe dialogue and other sorts of ``significant engagement’’ to handle remarkable disputes.

“Hopefully, the cause of significant engagement, mutual trust-building, dialogue to get to the bottom of disputes, and a calm and filthy rich future can be supported for the typical just right of the two countries and the folks of South Asia,’’ he mentioned.

India has to this point no longer formally reacted to the end result of Pakistan elections and, off the document, Indian officers have sounded unsure about how, if in any respect, it might affect bilateral ties. Some of it has got to do with the perception that Khan, as a result of he owes his success to the army, might be decreased to doing its bidding.

This despite the fact that is vehemently denied via the Pakistanis. A Pakistan diplomat who didn’t wish to be quoted, as reported via TOI on Friday, had mentioned that Khan, in contrast to Sharif, had a clean image and didn’t suffer from a credibility deficit and so he was once going to be backed via all other establishments together with the army. Khan could also be mentioned to have appealed extra to the early life and ladies.

Pakistan sees as a shot within the arm feedback via India’s former chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi on an Indian news channel that the elections have been free, fair and clear. Quraishi, who was once in Pakistan as a member of the Commonwealth Observation Group, had additionally mentioned that the presence of army jawans within the polling booths was once ``innocuous’’.

The proven fact that the results level to a extra various support base for Khan (his birthday celebration has no longer fared badly even in Punjab) could also be seen as suggesting that Khan’s success is not a fluke and that he’s right here to stick. PTI, in reality, appears to be profitable greater than 50 in line with cent of the seats in southern Punjab. His leadership credentials are buttressed via mentioning the truth that this could also be perhaps the first time that an incumbent government (PTI) has returned to energy within the Ok-P province.

``Despite what the nay-sayers needed to say, the elections happened in a timely method, as scheduled. Despite several terrorist assaults within the run-up to the elections, the political parties and the candidates waged a full, focused and spirited marketing campaign. The people of Pakistan answered with equal courage and enthusiasm. This is a mirrored image in their unflinching commitment to democracy and to the democratic process,’’ mentioned Mahmood.

"It is equally vital to view these elections within the long-term, historic point of view of the march of democracy in Pakistan. These have been the third consecutive general elections since 2008. Another elected government finished its constitutionally-mandated term in May 2018. Now, we're poised to make some other non violent transition to some other elected government,’’ he added.

Khan despite the fact that is predicted to first of all focal point on home politics, specifically on addressing the economic disaster Pakistan is confronted with. There has been some talk in India that he may invite PM Narendra Modi for his swearing-in however Pakistan seems to imagine it is too early to invest as the federal government has still no longer been formed.