Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday replied back to Pakistan’s NSA Sartaj Aziz in which he had stated that India has set pre conditions for meeting.
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Basit had earlier this week invited Kashmiri separatist leaders to the Pakistan mission on Sunday for a meeting with Aziz – re-creating the conditions under which India had called off last year’s talks.
On Friday, India said it would not be appropriate for Aziz to meet with separatist leaders from the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir.
On the issue of not allowing Sartaj Aziz’s meet with Hurriyat leaders, the Union Minister said that it was decided in the Shimla accord that no third party should be involved when India and Pakistan sit to talk.
The Pakistan High Commission’s invitation to Geelani and other separatist leaders to meet Aziz has upset New Delhi but Pakistan has stuck to the line that such meetings were “routine”.
“We made it clear on August 18 no agenda beyond terrorism at talks“, she said. The fact that Islamabad chose to cancel the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, which it was supposed to host next month, after India insisted that the speaker of Jammu and Kashmir assembly be invited is evidence, according to Islamabad, of how much importance it attached to the Kashmir issue.
He rejected the Indian charge that Pakistan was distorting the Ufa understanding, stating that the Ufa statement included discussion on all outstanding issues including Kashmir. India has conveyed to Pakistan that its “unilateral imposition of new conditionalities and distorted interpretation” of what was agreed between the two Prime Ministers was not acceptable. “He did not read the operative part, which said there will be three meetings – between the NSAs to discuss terrorism, talks between the DG BSF and Pakistani Rangers, and between the DGMOs”. This would allow India to argue that it had not allowed Pakistan to consult the Hurriyat before the talks. “But the Pakistani leadership hasn’t been able to deal with the pressure since they returned from Ufa to Pakistan”. Pakistani officials say there will be no change in that programme. India-Pakistan relations remain tense as both countries accuse the other’s military forces of violating a cease-fire with cross-border attacks.
The statement further said that Pakistan wishes to reiterate its abiding commitment to promoting a relationship of cordiality and co-operation with all its neighbours, including India, in pursuance of the Prime Minister’s vision of a peaceful neighbourhood.
Swaraj said she expected a reply soon from Pakistan.
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Of late India has started projecting Pakistan’s proximity to the region’s separatists as a major hindrance in resolving issues with Pakistan, though the practice has been going on for quite a long time.
