India maintains tough stand, advises Pak NSA not to meet Hurriyat leaders

However, both sides have repeatedly accused each other of violating the truce.

On Friday, India said it would not be appropriate for Aziz to meet with separatist leaders from the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir. He said this reflects Indian mindset to dictate agenda of the talks.

India accuses Pakistan of arming and financing the militants.

Pakistan said today it push ahead with the meeting despite India’s “advice”, calling the pro-independence leaders “genuine stakeholders” in efforts to find a solution to the dispute over the Kashmir region.

Talks between the national safety advisors of India and Pakistan must be held as scheduled if terrorism has to be tackled, a leader of Jammu and Kashmir’s ruling People’s Democratic Party leader on Friday. “For India to refuse to engage in talks with Pakistan on this pretext is a repeat of what it did when it cancelled the Foreign Secretary level talks that were scheduled to be held on August25 previous year”, the statement said.

Pakistan on Friday said it is willing to come to India for talks between the National Security Advisors, but would do so only if there are no “pre-conditions”, and also said it cannot accept the Indian “advice” not to meet the Hurriyat.

“Modi wants to show he’s different and has a tough approach toward Pakistan”.

At the July 10 talks in Ufa between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Sharif, both sides announced a meeting between the two NSAs in New Delhi to discuss terrorism-related issues. Pakistan also refused to hold talks on the basis of “conditional diplomacy” wherein India is dictating the conditions.

Pakistan may have finally agreed to honour the bilateral understanding for NSA-level talks, but that has not calmed the apprehension in New Delhi about the intent of the estranged neigbour, especially that it may use the occasion for grandstanding for the domestic audience.

“The point I am making it when we decided that there will be a meeting between Nawab Sharif and our Prime Minister at Ufa and that was to be followed by talks at the NSA-level”.

“These two actions indicated its reluctance to go forward with sincerity on the agreed process”, Swaroop added.

“Even more significantly, without confirming either the programme or the agenda, the Pakistan high commissioner invited Hurriyat representatives to consult with the visiting NSA”. A Pakistani terrorist was captured in Udhampur. “While terrorism is a grave concern, any India-Pakistan talks without Kashmir on the agenda is not going to make much of a headway”.

The insistence on meeting Hurriyat as a precondition is also a complete departure from the Ufa understanding.

“Pakistan has announced its decision to pull back as host… as a outcome of the Emergency Tele-Conference of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association on Wednesday”, a National Assembly Secretariat statement issued after speaker’s media interaction said.