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PM Modi’s Balochistan Remark Not A Shift In Policy: External Affairs Ministry

India also proposed discussing “vacation of Pakistan’s illegal occupation of J&K” – a reference to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir – and sought a briefing from the Pakistan Foreign Secretary on the progress in the 26/11 trial in Pakistan and its probe into the Pathankot airbase attack.

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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.

But now, according to Reuters, foreign secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is set to attend talks on the invitation of his Pakistani counterpart.

The UN and worldwide community should remind India that it must fulfil its commitment to give the right of self-determination to the people of Jammu and Kashmir as per Security Council resolutions, he said. The UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said in Berlin today that he has been working to get observers to the parts of the disputed region since violence flared last month.

Balochistan Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri on Thursday said no one in the Pakistani province had supported Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that the Baloch people had thanked him for his support. “It’s important that Pakistan do the utmost to prevent terrorists from carrying out acts of terror – not just in Pakistan, but elsewhere in the region”.

He was referring to his remarks, made after an all-party meet on Kashmir, in which he had said that it was time to expose Pakistan’s brutalities in Balochistan, Gilgit and Pak-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

He explained that India has been concerned about the developments in Balochistan for sometime and officials have been expressing concern.

“We have one standout country in the region which has a different view of terrorism which makes it a hard partner for all of us”, he said.

It said India’s strategy in the “held Kashmir has not borne fruit” and militarising Kashmir has only “increased the locals’ resentment against New Delhi”. Responding to Pakistan’s claim that India has crossed the red line, Swarup said, “Pakistan recognises no redline in conduct of its own diplomacy”.

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He said the people of Pakistan would not tolerate such language from Modi against Balochistan or any other integral part of Pakistan.

AP EXPLAINS: For 69 years, Kashmir is torn by deadly strife