Two days after Home Minister Rajnath Singh told the Parliament that dialogue with Pakistan will only be on Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and that there was no question of talks on Kashmir, Pakistan today said that Islamabad will “soon write to New Delhi, inviting it for a dialogue on the Kashmir issue”.
“Pakistan will invite India for a dialogue on J&K dispute. Our Foreign Secretary would formally be writing to his counterpart,” Pakistani Premier’s Advisor on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, said today, iterating that dialogue is the best option to resolve the long pending issues with India.
Two days ago, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had said, “If there will be any talks with Pakistan, it will only be on PoK and not Kashmir.”
Attacking Pakistan, Singh had said that the ongoing unrest in Kashmir is fuelled by Pakistan and “there is no power in the world that can take Jammu and Kashmir away from us (India).”
Both the Houses of Parliament have passed a unanimous resolution expressing sympathy over deaths in Kashmir and vowing to instil faith among people of the Valley.
More than 55 people have been killed in the weeks of demonstrations and clashes between Kashmiri protesters and security forces following the killing of Hizbul militant Burhan Wani. The violence has left thousands injured. Hundreds, who have been hit by pellets, have partially or fully lost their eyesight.
The ties between the two neighbouring countries are going through a chill after the cancellation of Foreign Secretary-level talks following January 2 attack at the IAF base in Pathankot that killed seven Indian security officials. India has accused Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) for the attack and has been pressing for action against the terrorists responsible for the audacious attack on the frontier IAF base.
Before this, in August last year, India had called off NSA-level talks following differences over the agenda proposed by Islamabad and a planed meeting between Kashmiri separatists and Pak’s NSA Sartaz Aziz. At that time, India had insisted that the talks would be held on terror issue but Pakistan said that it wanted to discuss the Kashmir issue, killing the Ufa spirit where Indian PM Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart had agreed that both New Delhi and Islamabad have a ‘collective responsibility’ to ensure peace.
Pakistan has time and again raked up the Kashmir issue calling the conflict a ‘core issue’. Even at the UNSC, Pakistan had maintained that the issue of Jammu and Kashmir will always be on top of the agenda of any bilateral dialogue.
