Can Pakistan and India ever live in harmony?

Adviser Aziz, who was flanked by Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi and Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad, said Pakistan has always supported a dialogue with India for a peaceful resolution of all outstanding issues. “External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has rightly replied to Pakistan that before talking you should shun terrorism”, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told ANI.

The third point pertaining to demilitarisation of Kashmir was discussed by India and Pakistan in the course of the composite dialogue from 2004 till 2007, when both countries explored the option of gradual withdrawal of their military forces from their respective parts of Kashmir.

“As far as the Indian government goes, Pakistan is the primary sponsor of terrorism, and they will stick by this claim no matter what those dossiers state”, the daily said. The UNSG’s office made no comment on the issue.

Speaking at the Annual Coordination Meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Foreign Ministers here, he also accused Indian security forces of human rights violations and ceasefire violations.

Pakistan’s army chief addressed two important institutes in London last week, pointing out India’s hostility towards his country at a time when it was engaged in countering terrorism within its territory.

“The world shared our outrage at the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which citizens of many nations were helplessly butchered”, Swaraj said, adding that it was an “affront to the entire global community” that the mastermind behind the attack is walking free in Pakistan. Several videos leaked to television channels this week showing police atrocities in PoK appear to be linked to the NDA government’s new push at highlighting the conditions in PoK.

Even so, a few senior officers argued that Mr Modi’s reputation as a hardline nationalist might enable him to take risks in delivering a few kind of deal to end India and Pakistan’s differences.

The new stance is a major shift from the 1972 Shimla Agreement, according to which India and Pakistan have accepted the Cease-Fire Line as the Line of Control (LoC) between Kashmir and PoK. The USA and other Western countries may have complaints about Pakistan’s counterterrorism approach. There has been no United Nations reference to Kashmir since a UNSC resolution after the 1971 war, and India has prevailed in keeping the issue bilateral.

India’s hardened stance gets credence also because of the rising atrocities committed by Pakistan in PoK.