Islamabad: The much awaited Foreign Secretary level talks between Pakistan and India suffered a setback as India abruptly cancelled the meet of August 25. India’s decision was taken after Abdul Basit, Pakistan’s envoy to India met with hurriyat leaders of J&K.
Pakistan is going through a tough time having Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) and Tahir-ul-Qadri’s Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT), who are sitting in thousands in the federal capital Islamabad, demanding ousting of the Nawaz Sharif’s government; India’s cancellation of talks is certainly a major blow.
The decision has hindered fresh hopes of positive results towards mutual consultations between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, relations of who have been on a standstill as both countries have been opting to blame game and accusations.
“Under the present circumstances, it is felt that no useful purpose will be served. Pakistan’s continued efforts to interfere in India’s internal affairs were unacceptable,” said India Foreign Secretary Syed Akbaruddin.
The decision has also been taken after continued incidents of violations on the Line of Control (LoC) that have claimed lives of Border Security Force (BSF) both sides of the border of Pakistan and India.
Pakistan has claimed the hurriyat leader meeting as a normal practice and has called India’s decision as a major setback.
“It is a longstanding practice that, prior to Pakistan-India talks, meetings with Kashmiri leaders are held to facilitate meaningful discussions on the issue of Kashmir. The Indian decision is a setback to the efforts by our leadership to promote good neighborly relations with India.†Read a Press Release in an official statement by Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Highlighting Pakistan’s vision towards peace and development, the press release also reminded of Pakistan PM’s acceptance by the Indian Premier.
“The Prime Minister of Pakistan has clearly articulated the vision of peace for development. It was in this spirit that he accepted the invitation of the Indian Prime Minister to attend his inaugural ceremony.â€
Indo-Pak relations have been on a consistent decline, especially after the Mumbai terror attack, which was masterminded by Pakistan-based organisation Jamat-ud-dawa (JuD) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) led by their leader Hafiz Saeed. Hafiz Saeed also has been declared as a “terrorist†by the US, which has put a $10 million bounty on Hafiz Saeed.
While Pakistan has kept the disputed issue of Kashmir, as its main priority for bilateral talks with India, an issue that India has kept away from addressing, claiming Indian part of Kashmir as none of Pakistan’s concern.
Pakistan Army maintains a strong hold over its political leaderships and have not been inclined towards any positive movement towards better relations.
Analyst believe Indo-Pak relations are defined and derived by Pak’s armed forces, which is why an increase in cross-border firing incidents is witnessed every time political leaderships make movement towards table talks.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s words also inflamed sentiments in Pakistan when he declared the country too weak to fight a conventional war and blaming it for opting to proxy war against India, during his recent visit to J&K.
Pakistan responded with its version, saying itself to be fully equipped and ready to fight any kind of confrontation on its border.