Pakistan ready for talks with India on all issues, PM tells UN

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Friday he was ready for talks with India and hailed the role of US President Donald Trump, who has been peeved by New Delhi's reticence on his diplomacy.

- Tariq Butt | Agence France-Presse

Shahbaz Sharif addressed the United Nations a day after he met with Trump at the White House alongside Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, who has told the US leader he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for a ceasefire in Pakistan's May conflict with India.

"Pakistan stands ready for a composite, comprehensive and result-oriented dialogue with India on all outstanding issues. South Asia requires proactive rather than provocative leadership," Shahbaz said in his speech to the UN General Assembly (UNGA). Shahbaz called Trump's leadership "bold and visionary."

Had Trump not intervened in a timely way and "decisively, the consequences of a full-fledged war would have been catastrophic," he said.

In May, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered attacks on Pakistani military sites after suspected gunmen massacred civilians, almost all Hindus, in divided Kashmir.

Pakistan denied responsibility and Shahbaz, in his speech on Friday, claimed victory against what he described as aggression.