Kashmir not a third party, it is integral to dialogue: Sharif

Following last-minute scuttling of talks between the national security advisers of Pakistan and India, proposed meetings between senior military officials of the two countries are now unlikely senior Pakistani officials said. The Pakistan government cancelled the planned meeting of national security advisors with India on Sunday because New Delhi refused to discuss about a long term plan and meeting with Kashmiri leaders.

In response to Swaraj’s comments, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said “the scheduled NSA level talks can not be held on the basis of the preconditions set by India“. The region has been the trigger for three of the four wars between the two countries since 1947. Big issues cannot be eternally deferred – but the talks did not happen and both sides are losers and the regional security environment just got darker. These meetings were aimed at reducing rising tensions along the Line of Control and working boundary.

On Pakistan blaming India for cancellation of talks, the Home Minister said, “It is Pakistan which has cancelled the talks and not India”. When Benazir Bhutto became prime minister, he recalled, she had arranged for the leader of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Maulvi Umar Farooq, to meet world leaders. He has been the subject of umpteen animated TV discussions on India-Pakistan relations after the formation of the Modi government a year ago. This has particularly been the case because since the Ufa joint statement, there have been two terrorist attacks in India, in Udhampur and Gurudaspur, which India claims originated from Pakistani territory.

Commenting on if the NSA-level talks could be rescheduled, Aziz said, “We will welcome (Ajit) Doval if he comes to Islamabad but India is not ready for serious talks”. “Pakistan would not run from talks on terrorism as Pakistan also has evidence of RAW’s involvement in Pakistan”.

“We were encouraged by the constructive interaction. India is not the only country facing terror, we are also a victim”, he said.

New Delhi says Pakistan must first address Indian’s concerns on terrorism and build a climate of trust before engaging over Kashmir.

Husain Haqqani, the former Pakistan Ambassador to the US who is now director of South and Central Asia at the Hudson Institute, said Pakistan’s behaviour follows a well-worn pattern of trying to seek worldwide attention for Kashmir. We also want 26/11 trial to conclude as quickly as possible.