Pakistan gives efited reply to India over Kashmir issue

But neither side was formally calling off the talks. “New Delhi will never get the permanent seat of UN Security Council unless it recognizes the resolutions passed by the World Body about Kashmir dispute and implements them in letter and spirit”, he added. (Indo-Pak) talks are not based on conditional diplomacy”.

Each side accused the other of shifting goalposts for the talks, which were agreed to by their Prime Ministers after a meeting last month in Ufa, Russia. The Indian warning was conveyed on Thursday, Swarup said. The government warned of “appropriate” action, if Aziz meets Hurriyat leaders.

Previous year India cancelled foreign secretary-level talks between the two countries after a similar meeting.

Sources also said that Pakistan did not convey any “pre-conditions” and in fact communicated that India should not impose any preconditions. When contacted the Foreign Office spokesperson Qazi Khalilullah refused to confirm or deny the cancellation of the dialogue, saying the official stance has been issued by the Foreign Office in the statement.

When the talks, to be held by each country’s national security adviser, were announced by the Indian and Pakistani prime ministers in July, the Kashmir dispute was omitted from their joint-statement in favor of a focus on security matters.

Sartaj Aziz is scheduled to hold talks with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval on Monday in New Delhi.

Meanwhile, some separatist leaders travelling to New Delhi were briefly detained in Srinagar and then released a few hours later. This was the only agenda set for them by the two PMs.

Pakistan’s political and military leadership held a meeting on Friday which was chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and was also attended by Army Chief Gen. Raheel Sharif.

It said that Islamabad’s insistence on meeting Hurriyat leaders as a pre-condition was a complete departure from the Ufa understanding.

A showdown is imminent as Jammu and Kashmir’s ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said it would not arrest separatist leaders to stop them from travelling to New Delhi.

New Delhi/Islamabad Uncertainty loomed over the NSA-level talks between India and Pakistan after Islamabad rejected New Delhi’s advice to not meet Hurriyat leaders ahead of the dialogue, even as Pakistan called the Hurriyat leaders the “true representatives” of Kashmiris.

The sharp exchange followed a failed attempt yesterday to stitch together a compromise that could serve as a face-saver for both nations, while also salvaging the talks.

But the MEA hit back, saying, “The statement by the government of Pakistan today on the NSA-level talks with India does not come as a surprise”. India is ready for talks.