Foreign Minister Bilawal looks to mend relations with US, blames New Delhi for 'complicated' Indo-Pak ties

In an attempt to mend ties, Pakistan’s new Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said at the United Nations on Thursday that he wants a more broad-based relationship with the US, media reports said. The Pakistani leader also blamed India for 'particularly complicated' ties between the two neighbours. The remarks came during the leader’s first visit to the United States as foreign minister.  

"Our relationship with the United States has been colored too much by the geopolitical context in our region, and particularly by the events and circumstances in Afghanistan. We would like to pivot away from a transactory relationship, a one-point agenda relationship, to a more broad-based relationship with a particular emphasis on trade," the FM told reporters.  

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"Pakistan is not insecure about our relationship with the United States and we believe that the world is big enough for both Pakistan and India to exist," the minister said on being asked about competing with India when it comes to ties with Washington.  

On relationship with India, Bilawal said the ties had been "particularly complicated" by decision of New Delhi to abrogate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. At the moment, the "practical space" for dialogue, economic activity and diplomacy is "very limited", said the minister.  

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"As far as the question of our relationship with India is concerned, it is particularly complicated" by their recent actions in Kashmir, firstly the decision to abrogate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and secondly, the decision of the delimitation commission on Jammu and Kashmir, Bilawal said.

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(With inputs from agencies)