Sartaj Aziz says Pak ready for talks with India without preconditions

Putting the onus back on India, Pakistan Saturday said it was prepared for NSA-level talks without any pre-conditions amid continuing signs that the meeting was unlikely to take place.

“Shelling, Infiltration, terror attacks & now Hurriyat arrests, clearly no side wants to talk & yet neither side has the guts to call it off”.

“We have come to the conclusion that the proposed NSA level talks between the two countries would not serve any objective , if conducted on the basis of the two conditions laid down by the Minister”, it said.

He also said that it was India that had introduced new conditions in the agenda and format of the forthcoming NSA talks “with its advice that Pakistan could not meet Hurriyat leaders”.

Sushma Swaraj will address a press conference in New Delhi at 4 p.m. today, said an Indian Ministry of External Affairs statement.

Aziz also maintained that the core issue of Kashmir would be on the agenda of talks.

Pakistan and India have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region since both gained independence in 1947, and it remains a major source of tension.

“It had become evident and apparent that Mufti had arrived at an understanding with the Central government and the BJP to remain silent on the detention of separatist leaders in exchange for the party’s assurance that they would desist from destabilising his (Mufti) government in J&K”, he said.

“Let them bring their dossiers”, said Ms. Swaraj in reply.

As New Delhi and Islamabad hardened their postures, a White House official hoped that the two NSAs would address all bilateral issues, including “disputed” Kashmir, in a direct manner.

“(What it means is more) mutual accusations, acrimony, more provocations”, said Siddharth Varadarajan, a political analyst and former editor of the Hindu newspaper in India.

The Pakistani leadership was vulnerable to domestic pressure and was trying to wriggle out of the talks, she claimed adding, Nawaz Sharif faced criticism on the Ufa statement soon after returning to his country and since then efforts have been underway to ensure that the NSA-level talks do not take place.

Sartaj Aziz said: “The second point calls for reviewing progress on actual decisions made at Ufa i.e. prompt release of fishermen, better arrangements for religious tourism, and activation of mechanisms for restoring peace across the LOC and the Working Boundary”. Rejecting such talk, he said that the entire nation was on the same page.

Aakar Patel, a long-time Modi observer and the new head of Amnesty global in India, said New Delhi’s position had been weakened.