India has told Pakistan that the proposed talks between the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries must focus on cross-border terrorism with regard to the unrest in Kashmir.
While Jaishankar has “conveyed his willingness” to visit Islamabad for the talks, New Delhi has made a pre-condition that talks should centre around “aspects related to cross-border terrorism” that are considered to be “central” to the current situation in Jammu & Kashmir, according to highly-placed sources.
“We have also conveyed that the Indian government rejects in entirety the self-serving allegations regarding the situation in J&K, which is an integral part of India where Pakistan has no locus standi,” said a top-level official requesting anonymity. This comes two days after Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry invited his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar to discuss the Kashmir dispute, which is central to India-Pakistan bilateral ties, in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.
Even as the Kashmir valley continued to witness unrest due to deaths of security personnel as well as civilians, matters took an interesting turn when Prime Minister Narendra Modi invoked Balochistan and Gilgit in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Within hours Pakistan Foreign Ministry sprung into action and extended an invitation to Jaishankar through the Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale.
Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar Wednesday said it is “difficult” to deal with Pakistan.
“Pakistan is a country that uses terrorism as a tool of diplomacy. This makes it difficult to deal with them to a large extent ... We hoped the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue will begin in January but terrorism does not let the relationship progress,” Jaishankar told reporters at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia.
Modi's Baloch reference During his Independence Day speech, Modi had expressed his gratitude towards the people of PoK for “thanking” him as he had spoken on the atrocities that are being carried out by Pakistan in Balochistan and PoK.
Pakistan responded to this by saying that India is trying to “divert” the attention of the international community from the unrest taking place in Kashmir. “More than 70 innocent Kashmiris have been killed and more than 6,000 injured. There is constant curfew and complete media blackout for the past 37 days. These events have nothing to do with terrorism. It is an indigenous movement for self determination, a right promised to the Kashmiris by the UN Security Council. At this time, the contrast between the Indian Occupied Kashmir and the Azad Jammu and Kashmir could not be more stark,” said Sartaj Aziz, Adviser on Foreign Affairs to Pakistan’s Prime Minister.
SAARC summit Last year, Prime Minister Modi had said he would visit Islamabad to attend the SAARC Summit there in November. However, speculations are now rife that he might skip the meeting this time.
Meanwhile, it is also reported that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will not attend the SAARC Finance Ministers’ meet. However, according to sources, Jaitley’s visit has not been firmed up yet.