A former Pakistan prime minister, now one of the prominent leaders of an opposition alliance, has called upon the government to take parliament into confidence and build a consensus about proposals for a solution to the Kashmir issue.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who is the current secretary general of the anti-government Pakistan Democratic Movement,  said the Kashmir issue couldn’t be resolved in “close-doors”  meetings.

Abbasi’s remarks came in the background of reported back-channel talks between the intelligence leaderships of the two countries, who have already fought three wars in 1947, 1965 and 1971 and an undeclared war in 1999 in Kargil, besides engaging in a number of border skirmishes and militant stand-offs.

 “Any settlement made… outside and brought for the parliament endorsement will not be acceptable. The government will have to develop consensus for its resolution as no one single party can bring about solution of it,” said Abbasi, who had a ten-month prime ministerial stint beginning August 1, 2017.

He said confidence-building measures could be taken for creating a conducive atmosphere for a solution, but the issue cannot be resolved in the back channels and imposed upon the people.