The latest letter, delivered through diplomatic channels to Islamabad on Wednesday, was foreign secretary S Jaishankar’s reply to his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Choudhary’s August 19 invite to discuss Kashmir according to the United Nations resolutions that also call for a plebiscite in the Valley.
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Spokesman Nafees Zakaria said Pakistan was constantly making efforts to find a solution for the Jammu & Kashmir issue and regretted that the dialogue process since last two decades could not make any headway.
Meanwhile, Pakistan friday “regretted” India’s virtual rejection of its proposal for talks on Kashmir even as it briefed the ambassadors of the P-5 and European Union countries about the situation there in yet another attempt to internationalise the issue.
The letter written by Pakistan had highlighted the worldwide obligation of both countries to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the resolutions of the UN Security Council.
Over 60 people have died in clashes between protesters and security forces in Kashmir since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani last month.
India also accused Pakistan of being the “prime perpetrator” of terrorism targeting not only India, but also other nations in the region.
The Home Minister’s two-day visit on August 24-25 to the restive Kashmir for the second time in a month was part of Centre’s outreach.
The latest provocation came in the form of Indian Prime Minister Modi’s independence day speech, where he brought up Balochistan and Gilgit Baltistan (GB, referred to as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir).
He said Baloch people can’t settle for anything less than complete independence from Pakistan. “I am thoroughly indebted to Prime Minister Modi”. The Modi government muted its reaction to the January 2016 terror strike at the Indian Air Force base at Pathankot, in the northern state of Punjab, in the hope that dialogue with the Pakistani civilian establishment was key to management of a turbulent border.
The spokesperson added “oppressive measures by India can not deter the valiant people of Jammu and Kashmir from their just struggle for their right of self determination”.
“Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar has written to his Pakistani counterpart, calling for talks on cross-border terrorism, describing it as a threat to regional security”.
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Senior American officials held talks with Pakistani officials in Islamabad, where Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry contested Washington’s assessment with Dr Peter Lavoy, the special assistant to the US president and the US National Security Council’s South Asia director. “We want to solve this with peaceful means”, he said.
