Former Pakistani Army chief General Raheel Sharif on Thursday said normalcy will return to the region only after the long-standing Kashmir dispute is resolved.
Terming Kashmir as the unfinished agenda of Partition, General Raheel Sharif said that the issue should be resolved according to the aspirations of the people and resolutions of the United Nations to achieve durable peace in South Asia.
"Pakistan needs peace but the core issue is Kashmir, which has to be resolved first," Gen Sharif said while addressing the "Pakistan Breakfast" event on the sidelines of the 47th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in this Swiss mountaintop city.
The session was arranged by the Pathfinder Group of Pakistan in its efforts to promote the country at the forum which is attended by the world's leading political and business personalities.
The Kashmir valley suffered a rise in violence last year after the killing of militant leader Burhan Wani on July 8.
In reply to a question whether peace and economic prosperity could be achieved in South Asia without the resolution of the Kashmir dispute, the former chief of the Pakistan Army said: "There are three words to explain how to move forward and these are Kashmir, Kashmir and Kashmir."
(With IANS inputs)
