The foreign office on Friday said there were no bilateral talks, either overt or covert, taking place between Pakistan and India on any of the issues including restoration of trade ties. “First, you would recall the developments that took place in 2019 and the illegal and unilateral steps taken by India in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). Following that, several measures were taken by Pakistan, including the suspension of bilateral trade,” foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told reporters in response to a question at the weekly briefing. “That situation remains intact, and at this point there are no bilateral talks between the two countries with respect to bilateral trade between Pakistan and India,” she added. In the past, the two sides tried to explore options through back channels in order resurrect the bilateral dialogue. Efforts did produce renewal of ceasefire deal in February 2021 but the process to jumpstart the peace process never took off. Prospects of any normalisation at this stage seem not high given the divergences between Pakistan and India. The recent surge in violence in the Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir even threatened to break the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC). There have been reports of fresh military operation by the Indian forces in Jammu region after recent spate of attacks. The spokesperson said Pakistan strongly condemned the killing of four Kashmiri youth by Indian troops in the Doda district of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir. “This brutal action by the Indian occupation authorities is yet another example of their illegal and oppressive acts against the Kashmiri people,” she added. “We urge the international community to take immediate and decisive action to hold India accountable for its egregious human rights violations in IIOJK and to take steps to protect the rights and freedoms of the Kashmiri people.” She reiterated that Pakistan will continue to extend political, diplomatic and moral support to our Kashmiri brothers and sisters for the just and peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolutions. Pakistan welcomes Gaza ceasefire talks The spokesperson said Pakistan repeatedly since October 2023 called for an urgent and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza. “We have called on the international community to bring an end to the massacre and genocide of the Palestinian people. And in that context, we welcome any initiative that may lead to peace and dialogue and resolution of the current situation where Palestinians continue to be under attack by the Israeli occupation authorities,” she said. She said Pakistan was deeply concerned at the recent developments in the Middle East. “We are concerned that the situation in the Middle East is a result of the illegal acts by Israel against the people of Palestine and its adventurism against its neighbours and countries in the region.” “We also support the statement which was made by OIC that held Israel fully responsible for its crime of assassinating the political bureau chief of Hamas in Tehran. OIC called that attack a crime of aggression and flagrant violation of international law and a serious infringement of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and national sovereignty of Iran. We believe that it is the responsibility of the United Nations under international law to ensure that there is peace in the region that Israel is held accountable for its acts. We reiterate to call on all parties to ensure that peace prevails in the Middle East.”