Pakistan angered India by describing Wani, who India says was a militant belonging to the Hizbul Mujahideen group, as a Kashmiri leader.
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INDIA on Wednesday rejected Pakistan’s proposal to hold Foreign Secretary-level talks on Kashmir and made it clear that terrorism was “central” to its relations with Islamabad, whose different view and attitude has made it hard for bilateral ties to grow.
Swarup added, “We need to understand the context in which the Prime minister made the statement on Balochistan”. He also proposed that the talks should include the progress made by the Pakistan government in detaining and prosecuting internationally recognised terrorists, who have been active in Pakistan in exhorting and supporting violence in Jammu and Kashmir.
Inu also said that since Bangladesh itself faced the brunt of Pakistan’s military establishment, it is constitutionally bound to support liberation struggle of Baloch people.
This latest incident coincided with the speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi given on India’s 69th Independence Day in the capital’s Red Fort.
“Mr Modi may have some yaars (close friends) in Pakistan but the people of Pakistan won’t tolerate such language”, he added.
Coming out in support of Modi’s assertion now, Inu said: “Bangladesh is constitutionally bound to support liberation struggles and we will soon declare an official policy on Balochistan”.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup said Jaishankar had conveyed he was accepting his counterpart’s invitation to visit Islamabad but discussions should focus first on the “more pressing aspects” of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. The only difference this time was that the various messages the Prime Minister had received had sufficiently moved him to share it with the people of India.
Also read – Modi raises Balochistan & PoK on Independence Day: What about India, sir?
Balochistan Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri on Thursday accused Indian spy agency, RAW, of conducting terrorism in Pakistan.
In terms of initiatives by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), Jaishankar said that while other countries of the region agree, Pakistan has issues. It’s for the good of both countries; it’s for the good of the region.
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The Indian media had reported that a meeting of all political parties in India presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week dismissed the UNHRC’s request to visit Kashmir.
