Delhi should come with ‘open hands, not clenched fists’: Bhutto

Pakistan People’s Party chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Tuesday said that if India wants peace, it should come forward with “open hands and not clenched fists”, amid tensions between the two neighbours following the Pahalgam terror attack.

The former foreign minister made the remarks during the National Assembly session, where discussions took place on the regional security situation.

Bilawal urged both India and Pakistan to work together and said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s “challenge to India for an impartial investigation is a start”.

He added that New Delhi should accept the offer.

The PPP leader added that Pakistan would fight for freedom and not for conflict in the case of a war.

“Let India decide. Will it be dialogue or destruction? Cooperation or confrontation?” Bilawal said. He said that terrorism cannot be defeated by a tank alone. “It must be defeated with justice. It cannot be uprooted by bullets, it must be disarmed with hope. It can be defeated by addressing the grievances that give it birth.”

Seven Pakistan army soldiers were killed on Tuesday when their vehicle was targeted by an improvised explosive device, Pakistan’s military said, blaming arch rival India for the attack.

BLA attack kills 7 Pak armymen; India blamed

At least seven Pakistani soldiers were killed on Tuesday in a terrorist attack in, the Pakistan Army said. “Terrorists belonging to the Baloch Liberation Army targeted a security forces’ vehicle with an IED in general area Mach, Kachhi district,” according to an official statement. Pakistan has blamed India for this.

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