Highlights
- India blamed ‘Pakistan-based entities’ for killing of three special police officers in Shopian in Kashmir and called off the planned meeting of Foreign Ministers in New York.
- The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said talks in the current circumstances would be futile and also cited stamps issued by Pakistan in July in memory of Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani as reasons for the cancellation.
‘Talks meaningless’
- “Any conversation with Pakistan in such an environment would be meaningless. In view of the changed situation, there will be no meeting between the Foreign Ministers of India and Pakistan in New York,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a press release.
- Apart from the killing of policemen and reported intimidation of serving policemen by militants in Kashmir, India took note of the postage stamps in memory of the slain militant Burhan Wani that were issued by Pakistan.
- Sources said the MEA took note of the stamps on Thursday.
- The latest brutal killings of our security personnel by Pakistan-based entities and the recent release of a series of 20 postage stamps by Pakistan glorifying a terrorist and terrorism confirm that Pakistan will not mend its ways,” the MEA said.
- The sudden cancellation came a day after Delhi agreed to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s proposal for the talks and announced that a meeting between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi would take place on the sidelines of the annual session of the UN General Assembly in the next few days.
- Thursday’s announcement came even as India confirmed the murder of a BSF soldier by Pakistani elements.
- India’s decision drew swift response from Pakistan, with Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry telling the entire world is watching that Pakistan stands for peace and dialogue and India is being led by extremist mindset.
- The MEA stated that the decision to go ahead with the meeting in New York was taken because the proposal from Prime Minister Imran Khan had indicated a desire to discuss ‘terrorism’ with India.
- The decision to cancel the talks was taken as India sensed the contradictions in Pakistan’s stated position and its unstated agenda.
- The decision received support from the opposition.
Comments (0)