India boycotts Commonwealth meet after Pakistan ignores J&K Speaker

This comes after Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Speaker was not invited for the meet.

India will go ahead with the NSA-level talks with Pakistan notwithstanding the terror strike in Jammu and Kashmir today in which a suspected Pakistani terrorist was caught alive.

There is nothing dishonourable about this approach which essentially calls on India to field everything that Pakistan throws at us, and yet continue the policy of engagement with a view to reducing the space for hardliners.

Indians look at a live mortar shell allegedly fired from the Pakistani side of the Indian Kashmir border in the village of Abdullian, about 35 kilometers from Jammu, the winter capital of Kashmir, India, August 4, 2015.

“We should tell Pakistan to mend its ways or whatever will happen later, you (Pak) exclusively would be responsible”, he said.

Nayeem Ahmad Khan said, the teacher are respected and regarded in the world as a nation builder, but in Kashmir, the same honourable people of the society are thrashed, beaten, arrested and abused only because they differ with the men at the helm of affairs.

Islamabad and New Delhi are negotiating new dates for a meeting of national security advisers of the two countries, diplomatic sources said on Wednesday.

The meeting noted that since Speakers of all the state Assemblies are members of the ‘India Region of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA)’, it was wrong to single out Jammu and Kashmir Assembly and not invite its Speaker. Tariq Khosa said in his op-Ed column that Mumbai attacks were planned and monitored in Pakistan.

He said our valiant forces have demolished the terrorist infrastructure across the country.

“The boycott is a big message to the world community”, he added.

“We have also demanded that Pakistan should forfeit its right to host the conference and the venue should be shifted to another country”.

The theme of this year’s conference is “Renewing the commitment to pluralism and inclusive democracy in the Commonwealth”. While it is clear that Pakistan has to do more to prove its commitment to peace and normalisation of relations, India will have to address Pakistan’s charges and grievances more constructively. During their weeklong stay in Islamabad, over 600 parliamentarians will discuss issues pertaining to legislative oversight, parliamentary strengthening, gender development, climate change and other issues of importance to the Commonwealth fraternity.