Like India, Pakistan does not support the idea of independent Kashmir: PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi

Pakistan and India do not support the concept of an independent Kashmir, as the idea has no basis in reality, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said in a speech at the London School of Economics at 'Future of Pakistan' conference.

No support for the concept of independent Kashmir, in either of the two countries. There is no basis in reality: Pak PM Abbasi #PakPMatLSE

— SouthAsia@LSE (@SAsiaLSE) November 4, 2017

Abbasi added though that with regards to Kashmir, talks were the only way forward. 

The prime minister added that his country was committed to fighting the "menace" of terror. 

And that "Pakistan is a country that is fighting terror for the world".

Abbasi added though that there was "an issue of automatic weapons" in his country. And that "there are 0.5 million automatic weapons in private hands in Pakistan". 

Abbasi also touched upon the civilian-military relationship in his country. 

"Our civil-military relations are evolving," Abbasi said. "It has been tenuous in the past but (it) is evolving." 

And he talked of the need to widen the tax base. 

"In a country of 200 million people, only 1.2 million pay taxes," he said. 

On education, Abbasi said, the country's biggest achievement was that people were interested in it, they valued education. 

And they were sending their children to school. 

Abbasi also added that the "women of Pakistan today are far ahead of men".