Turkey on Friday said the Kashmir issue should be resolved according to the UN resolutions, after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Turkish stand appeared in a joint statement issued at the end of a two-day visit by Khan to Turkey on the invitation of Erdogan.
Khan’s meeting with Erdogan was followed by delegation-level talks.
The two leaders expressed a commitment to further enhance bilateral relations in all fields, according to the joint statement shared with the media by Khan’s office in Islamabad.
The statement said the two countries “underscored the need for resolution of the issue of Jammu and Kashmir through a sustained dialogue process and in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions”.
India has maintained that Kashmir is a bilateral issue with Pakistan and that third parties have no role in it.
Khan and Erdogan also “recognised Turkish support for Pakistan’s membership in the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group based on non-discriminatory criteria, and reaffirmed that Pakistan’s adherence to the NSG guidelines and participation in the NSG would strengthen global non-proliferation objectives”.
The two nations acknowledged that sustainable peace and stability in Afghanistan could be achieved through reconciliation of all segments of Afghan society with support of regional countries and the international community.
They noted their expanding defence cooperation and expressed their resolve to further strengthening the existing economic, trade and commercial relations.
They also underlined their commitment to fight terrorism in all its forms and reiterated their resolve to counter the Fethullah Gülen organisation which Turkey regards as a terror group.
The two countries called on the international community to support the Palestinian people in realising their quest for an independent and sovereign state of Palestine on the basis of the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital. PTI
