Pak-India talks hang in balance

Speaking to reporters before his departure, he said, “Today we are going to ask the people of India whether former Indian Prime Minister A B Vajpayee, their leader L K Advani or Manmohan Singh were wrong”.

However, the Indian external affairs ministry would not categorically say whether the meeting of NSA was cancelled.

“We are not advising them (separatists) whether they should visit Delhi to meet Pakistan’s NSA”. India has always held the position that there are only two stakeholders in our relationship, not three, ” foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

He told Indian envoy that Kashmir is a disputed territory as per the UN Security Council resolutions.

Last year, the Indian government had called off foreign secretary talks for Pakistan’s “consulting” with Kashmiri separatists before the bilateral talks.

In the statement, the Pakistan foreign office spokesman said, “These talks, which were scheduled to take place on 23 and 24 August, flowed from a decision taken by the two Prime Ministers on July 10, in the Russian city of Ufa”.

Pakistan reacted strongly to insist that it would not depart from the “established past practice” of interacting with separatist Hurriyat leaders, rejecting India’s advice not to go ahead with their meeting with Aziz.

While the detention was described by the Centre as a signal that the separatists “cannot be a third party to talks” and that they could be detained again if they tried to meet the Pakistani delegation, the quick release was seen as the state government’s position on the matter.

The statement further said that it is not Pakistan that has placed any condition for the talks.

Pakistan has regretted the Indian pre-conditions for official talks between national security advisors of both the countries. But unfortunately, India’s foreign policy is being decided by media channels…

As New Delhi and Islamabad hardened their postures, a White House official hoped that the two NSAs would address all bilateral issues, including “disputed” Kashmir, in a direct manner.

Pakistan will never enter into negotiations with India sans the Kashmir issue since most of outstanding issues between the two countries are linked to the Kashmir dispute. The spokesperson also questioned timing of NSA level talks, saying there are repeated ceasefire violations on border by Pakistani side. Even more significantly…the Pakistani High Commissioner invited Hurriyat representatives to consult with the visiting NSA.

Recalling Modi’s swearing-in ceremony which was attended by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Sayeed praised the Prime Minister for taking a lead in making “SAARC an engine of growth, just what frontline nations did in bringing Europe together under one umbrella”.