New Delhi: The Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit received a call from foreign secretary Sujatha Singh as India cancel talks over Kashmir. Singh handed the message to Basit, the foreign secretary level talks scheduled for August 25 were now called off.
The talks between Sujatha Singh and her Pakistani counterpart, Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry, would have been the first official-level meeting after Modi assumed office.
The instant reaction offered a stark contrast to the government’s recent stoicism in the face of repeated ceasefire violations along the Line of Control that left Indian jawans injured. But while it appeared hasty, the decision was in fact a well-thought out and planned move from the Narendra Modi government.
Reports claimed that Prime Minister Modi had decided that his government would not stick to past convention and treat meetings between Hurriyat leaders and Pakistani government officials as non-events.
A government official said, “MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin confirmed that foreign secretary Sujatha Singh had called up Basit and told him not to go ahead with his Hurriyat meetings. But envoy told Singh that his meetings would help the political process between India and Pakistan.”
Sources said, “We’ve called off talks because Pakistan would not heed our concerns. We hope it will understand that we will also respond if more significant red lines, on issues like terrorism, are breached.”
The statement from the External Affairs Ministry said Pakistan’s “negative approaches and attempts to interfere in India’s internal affairs continue unabated.”
Bureau Report
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