However, Patra said the primary reason why Pakistan cancelled the talks with India was that “it knew very well that it would not be able to face the truth that India would have provided to Pakistan on terror“.
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“The arrest of a key Hurriyat leader Shabir Shah as he arrived in New Delhi to meet (Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Sartaj) Aziz and the arrest on Saturday of senior Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani also sends out the same message”. So, India should have had made it clear (in advance) that the NSA-level talks would not take place if Pakistan held talks with separatists.
On the other hand, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha said India should not engage with Pakistan till it was “absolutely certain” about the outcome.
‘With India slowly raising the stakes and forcing Pakistan to call off the talks at the last minute, India was able to show to all global players that it was Pakistan that had not acted responsibly in addressing the issue of terrorism.
New Delhi has for years accused Pakistan of backing separatist Muslim rebels in India’s part of Kashmir.
Ties between the two countries, which have gone to war thrice in the past, have remained tense over the last few months, with regular exchanges of fire along their border despite a 2003 ceasefire agreement.
A statement released by Pakistan’s foreign ministry said- “Pakistan reiterates that the scheduled NSA level talks can not be held on the basis of the preconditions set by India”.
Commenting on if the NSA-level talks could be rescheduled, Aziz said, “We will welcome (Ajit) Doval if he comes to Islamabad but India is not ready for serious talks”.
“We were encouraged by the constructive interaction between the leaders of India and Pakistan earlier this year at Ufa, particularly the announcement of dialogue between the countries’ National Security Advisors”, Kirby said.
Anadolu Agency-Getty Images Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (L) and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) meet during Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Ufa on July 10, 2015. According to New Delhi, it is unfortunate that such forces put the Pakistani leadership under tremendous pressure and ultimately forced the Sharif administration to call off the talks, thus, triggering a new round of hostilities.
She claimed outstanding issues including Kashmir are part of the composite dialogue between the two countries but the composite dialogue has not yet resumed.
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The former chief minister also said Pakistan needed to realise how terrorism was affecting it.
