Modi’s remarks on Balochistan spark protests in various cities

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar is willing to travel to Pakistan for talks relating to fighting cross-border terrorism.

Adopting a tough stance, India on Wednesday rejected Pakistan’s proposal for foreign secretary-level talks on Kashmir, asserting that terror remains the core concern and there was a need to talk about that. “Since aspects related to cross-border terrorism are central to the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir, we have proposed that discussions between the Foreign Secretaries be focused on them”. The Pakistan government said the letter “highlights the worldwide obligation of both the countries, India and Pakistan, to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions”.

The Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan was called by Chaudhry on Monday and handed over an invitation addressed to Jaishankar, the Foreign Office said.

The invitation was extended amid tension in bilateral ties due to the war of words between the two nations over the continuing unrest in Kashmir.

Kashmir has been under curfew since protests erupted over the death last month of a popular young rebel leader, Burhan Wani, in a gunfight with security forces.

Pakistan’s foreign policy chief Sartaj Aziz had announced last week that the Foreign Secretary would write to his Indian counterpart to extend a formal invitation for the talks. India, on its part, has made it amply clear to Pakistan that it will only discuss “contemporary and relevant” issues in India-Pakistan relations.

A PTI report from Geneva quoted UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein appealing to both India and Pakistan to grant his team access to Jammu and Kashmir as well as PoK. The Prime Minister said the people of Balochistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir have thanked him for raising the issues of atrocities committed by Pakistan’s security forces in both regions, a strong rebuttal to Pakistan accusing India of human rights violations in recent weeks in Kashmir. “We completely and categorically reject this purported communication from the Pakistan Foreign Ministry”, MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup had tweeted calling it India’s response to “yet another communique by Pakistan Foreign Ministry”.