Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said if Pakistan was so keen on discussing Kashmir, it should have done so at Ufa. Accusing Pakistan of deviating from the agenda agreed in Ufa between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif, Singh also made it clear that the possibility of any future dialogue would depend on the neighbour.
Pakistan on Saturday night called off the talks in New Delhi between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz, hours after India made it clear that discussions on Kashmir and a meeting with separatists will not be acceptable to it. On Pakistan’s claim that Kashmir was the main agenda, the Home Minister said, “Why didn’t Pakistan raise the Kashmir issue in Ufa in Russia when the two Prime Ministers met last month? Why was it not decided earlier that it would be part of NSA-level talks? It was never an issue on agenda.”
New Delhi on its part throughout asserted that it will stick to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Ufa that the talks will be on terror. The resolution had hardened following a couple of terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir and the arrest of a Pakistani terrorist in the run-up to the talks.
Expressing regret that Pakistan decided not to send its delegation and talks did not start, the senior Minister in central government said, “The cancellation of NSA-level talks between India and Pakistan is unfortunate. India is in favour of dialogue. We will continue to try for cordial relations with Pakistan... it’s up to them to decide.”
Meanwhile, principal Opposition, the Congress on Sunday while criticising Pakistan for cancelling the talks, also said that the union government should have been better prepared. “Unfortunately, the NDA government has played into Pakistan’s hands by being imprecise, by being unprepared, by lacking focus, by being ad hoc, by not doing sufficient hard-nosed groundwork, good old-fashioned diplomacy and preparation,” said party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi at a media briefing on Sunday.
On the other <g data-gr-id="41">hand</g> Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed on Sunday expressed disappointment over <g data-gr-id="40">cancellation</g> of talks and hoped that “the break in talks would be temporary”. He had a veiled advice for Pakistan and separatists too, saying “It is neither warranted nor desirable to insist upon all-inclusive participation, directly or indirectly, in each and every bilateral meeting, like that between the two NSAs.”
Hoping that India and Pakistan will “re-engage soon in a meaningful dialogue” and steps taken by New Delhi to remove impediments in normalization of relations will be reciprocated by Islamabad, Sayeed said he wants to see both the countries “walk the bridge of trust together”.
His predecessor Farooq Abdullah put the blame on separatists. “These self-claimed champions of Kashmiris should have shown some courage and backed off themselves. What was the hurry? The Hurriyat and other separatists receive funds from Pakistan. Their viewpoint is already reflected by Pakistan,” he said. Abdullah’s son and another former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said he expected this to be the fate of the proposed talks going by last year’s experience when India cancelled Foreign Secretary-level talks over Hurriyat issue.