Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz today said that his country will not back from its principled stance on talks with India as he accused New Delhi of "avoiding" a dialogue with Islamabad because issues such as Kashmir will have to be negotiated.
Aziz asserted that normal relations on New Delhi's terms are not acceptable to Islamabad, Dawn reported citing Radio Pakistan.
Contradicting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent statement in which he placed the onus of the stalled bilateral talks on Pakistan, Aziz asserted that “Pakistan was not refraining from talks with its neighbour”.
Aziz said that Pakistan had plans for extensive talks with India on issues such as Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek, economic cooperation, trade, visas and the detaining of fishermen, among others.
Aziz went on to say that the Indian Army had rejected an earlier agreement regarding Siachen between the two governments, as they had “stakes” in the glacier.
The diplomat had earlier said he was doubtful of progress towards normalisation of ties, and suggested that the situation be managed to prevent tensions.
In a recent TV interview, Modi had said that due to his diplomatic efforts, the world had seen that India was not reluctant to engage with Pakistan. Modi claimed there are “different types of forces operating in Pakistan”, and asked rhetorically if one has to draw a line or set conditions for dialogue, will it be “with the elected government or other actors?”
After Modi's surprise visit to Pakistan in December last year, the Pakistani and Indian Foreign Secretaries were scheduled to meet to discuss modalities regarding the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue. The dialogue was to take on matters related to peace and security, Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek, Wullar Barrage, Tulbul Navigation Project, economic and commercial cooperation, counter-terrorism, narcotics control and humanitarian issues, people to people exchanges and religious tourism.
However, an attack on the Pathankot air force base in India on January 2 by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohamed terrorists, in which seven Indian security personnel were killed, has led to the talks seeing virtually no progress.
The two Foreign Secretaries met in New Delhi in April on the sidelines of a Heart of Asia senior officials meet, but nothing tangible came out of it.
With IANS Inputs
