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<p data-start="0" data-end="118"><strong data-start="27" data-end="118">Sharif's Call for Dialogue Rings Hollow as India Reiterates Red Lines on Terror and POK</strong></p>
<p data-start="120" data-end="645"><strong data-start="120" data-end="132">Article:</strong><br data-start="132" data-end="135">In a carefully choreographed appearance alongside the Iranian President in Tehran on 26 May, Pakistan&rsquo;s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif extended a rhetorical olive branch to India, calling for dialogue on a range of contentious issues including Kashmir, the Indus Waters Treaty, and cross-border terrorism. The overture, however, comes at a time when India has launched a renewed diplomatic offensive to highlight Pakistan&rsquo;s continued patronage of terrorism, especially in light of recent cross-border incidents.</p>
<p data-start="647" data-end="1115">Sharif, speaking at a joint press briefing with President Masoud Pezeshkian, presented Islamabad as a willing partner in peace and regional cooperation. He declared Pakistan's readiness to resolve &ldquo;all disputes&rdquo; through negotiation&mdash;implicitly referencing long-standing issues such as Jammu and Kashmir, water-sharing tensions, and terrorism-related concerns. He further signalled interest in reviving bilateral trade relations and enhancing counter-terror cooperation.</p>
<p data-start="1117" data-end="1598">Yet the timing and tone of Sharif's remarks have raised eyebrows in diplomatic circles. His statement, lacking any concrete acknowledgement of Pakistan&rsquo;s role in nurturing non-state militant groups, appears more a diplomatic posture than a policy shift. While invoking peace, Sharif stopped short of addressing the deep-rooted structural support for terrorist outfits operating from Pakistani soil&mdash;an omission that underscores the enduring trust deficit between the two neighbours.</p>
<p data-start="1600" data-end="2082">India, for its part, responded with unequivocal clarity. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his first remarks following <em data-start="1718" data-end="1737">Operation Sindoor</em>&mdash;a high-profile counter-terror operation believed to have targeted infrastructure linked to Pakistan-based terror networks&mdash;dismissed any scope for traditional dialogue under the current circumstances. He reinforced India's long-held position that meaningful engagement can only take place once Pakistan ceases support for cross-border terrorism.</p>
<p data-start="2084" data-end="2620">New Delhi has consistently maintained that any conversation with Islamabad would revolve solely around the issue of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the dismantling of terrorist infrastructure. Modi&rsquo;s articulation of the "no talks under the shadow of terror" doctrine leaves little room for diplomatic ambiguity. His reference to &ldquo;blood and water&rdquo; not flowing together was a direct message to the international community: India is unwilling to normalise ties while its soldiers and civilians are targeted by Pakistan-backed elements.</p>
<p data-start="2622" data-end="2975">While Islamabad seeks to reposition itself as a peace-seeking state on the global stage&mdash;especially at a time of economic fragility and growing strategic isolation&mdash;it continues to be haunted by its own contradictions. For New Delhi, the path to dialogue remains blocked not by rhetoric, but by the grim reality of terror emanating from across the border.</p>
<p data-start="2977" data-end="3409" data-is-last-node="" data-is-only-node="">As regional dynamics evolve and global actors increasingly align with India's counter-terror narrative, Sharif&rsquo;s latest remarks may serve more as a diplomatic signal to international observers than a genuine overture toward rapprochement. The onus, as ever, remains on Pakistan to take verifiable steps to dismantle the terror apparatus within its territory&mdash;only then can any talk of peace be considered more than political theatre.</p>
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Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian

Pakistan PM’s peace pitch countered by India’s focus on POK and cross-border terrorism

Sharif Offers Talks, India Holds Firm on Terror

Pakistan PM’s peace pitch countered by India’s focus on POK and cross-border terrorism

May 27, 2025 | 20:20 IST

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