Pakistan regrets Indian pre-conditions for NSA talks: FO

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday regretted the Indian pre-conditions for official talks between the National Security Advisors of both countries.

A statement released by the Pakistan Foreign Office said, “We are deeply disappointed at the statement of the Spokesperson of India's Ministry of External Affairs, putting forth pre-conditions for official talks to take place with Pakistan at the level of the National Security Advisors.”

The FO spokesperson went on to say that the talks which were scheduled to take place on August 23 and 24, flowed from a decision taken by the two Prime Ministers on July 10, in the Russian city of Ufa.

He further said that “This is the second time that India has chosen to go back on a decision mutually agreed upon between the two Prime Ministers, to engage in a comprehensive dialogue, by coming up with frivolous pretexts.”

“Tension between the two countries had increased alarmingly as a result of frequent violations on the Line of Control and Working Boundary, in the past months. The need of the hour was for the two countries to engage in sincere and serious dialogue to immediately reduce tensions and to undertake the task of normalisation of relations, with sincerity and seriousness.”

“The Pakistan High Commissioner's invitation to the Kashmiri Hurriyat leadership to a reception in honour of the Adviser on 23 August, was very much in keeping with the practice and tradition of the past many years. Pakistan sees no reason to depart from this established practice. After all, the Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders are genuine stakeholders in efforts to find a lasting solution of the Kashmir dispute. For India to refuse to engage in talks with Pakistan on this pretext, is a repeat of what it did when it cancelled the Foreign Secretary level talks that were scheduled to be held on 25 August last year, pursuant to the meeting between the two Prime Ministers in Delhi in May 2014.”

“For the NSA talks in Delhi, Pakistan had proposed a comprehensive agenda, consistent with the decisions taken by the two Prime Ministers in Ufa, which included discussion on all outstanding issues, including Kashmir, as well as terrorism related matters, and other issues such as religious tourism, release of fishermen and peace and tranquility on the LoC. However, regrettably, the Indian side's desire to restrict the agenda to terrorism related issues only, amounts to a negation of the decisions taken by the two Prime Ministers.”

“It is not Pakistan that has placed any condition for the talks. In fact, Pakistan has always demonstrated its belief in the dialogue process and is prepared to engage in meaningful talks with India, to resolve all outstanding issues that have bedeviled relations between the two countries, for the past many decades.”

“Pakistan does not disregard agreements or understandings. It is the Indian side which has reneged on commitments agreed upon between the two Heads of Government in the past year.”

“Pakistan wishes to reiterate its abiding commitment to promoting a relationship of cordiality and cooperation with all its neighbours, including India, in pursuance of the Prime Minister’s vision of a peaceful neighbourhood.”

Talks cancelled, claims Indian media

Indian media on Friday evening claimed that the meeting between Pakistan and India’s National Security Advisors has been cancelled.

However, the claim could not be officially verified as the Indian government has not yet confirmed the cancellation.

The Pakistan FO released a statement in the light of this development and said that it has received no report of official cancellation of talks by the government of India.

The FO spokesperson further said Pakistan will respond after a formal notice is issued by India.

Meanwhile, sources at the Foreign Ministry said there should be no pre-conditions before the talks.

According to sources, Pakistan is awaiting India's reply after it conveyed its stance to the latter today.

Sources also said that Pakistan did not convey any 'pre-conditions' and in fact communicated that India should not impose any preconditions.

Imposition of new conditions cannot be basis for going forward: India’s MEA

Meanwhile, India’s Ministry of External Affairs stated that the talks cannot move forward with Pakistan’s ‘imposition of new conditions.’

In response to a question on statement put out by Pakistan today on the NSA level talks, the official spokesperson stated:

“The statement by the Government of Pakistan today on the NSA level talks with India does not come as a surprise. There has been a pattern to Pakistan's actions after the Ufa Summit and today's position is a culmination of that approach.”

"At Ufa, the two Prime Ministers agreed on a meeting of the NSAs to discuss all issues connected to terrorism as well as ensure peace and tranquility on the border. Instead, we saw a sharp increase in the unprovoked firings from the Pakistani side and some serious cross border terrorist incidents. The last one, at Udhampur, resulted in the capture alive of a Pakistani national, a matter that would have naturally come up in the NSA level talks on terrorism, to Pakistan's discomfort."

“In so far as those talks are concerned, Pakistan took 22 days to respond to the Indian proposal to meet in New Delhi. It then proposed an agenda that was at complete variance with what the two Prime Ministers had agreed upon in Ufa. Together, these two actions indicated its reluctance to go forward with sincerity on the agreed process. Even more significantly, without confirming either the programme or the agenda, the Pakistani High Commissioner invited Hurriyat representatives to consult with the visiting NSA. This provocative action was completely in consonance with Pakistan's desire to evade its commitment at Ufa to engage in a substantive discussion on terrorism.”

“The Ufa understanding on the talks - read out jointly by the two Foreign Secretaries - was very clear: the NSAs were to meet to discuss all issues connected to terrorism. This was the only agenda set for them by the two Prime Ministers.”

“The insistence on meeting Hurriyat as a precondition is also a complete departure from the Ufa understanding. India has always held the position that there are only two stake holders in our relationship, not three.”

“The people of both countries can legitimately ask today what is the force that compels Pakistan to disregard the agreements reached by two elected leaders and sabotage their implementation.”

“India remains committed to discussing issues with Pakistan peacefully and bilaterally. In fact, we took the initiative to engage at Ufa. But, unilateral imposition of new conditions and distortion of the agreed agenda cannot be the basis for going forward.”

Pakistan refuses Indian 'advice' of not meeting Hurriyat leadership: FO

Earlier today, Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement that it is willing to attend the meeting of National Security Advisors (NSA) on 23-24 August in New Delhi without any pre-conditions.

In response to the ‘advice’ of the Indian Government that Sartaj Aziz not meet Hurriyat leaders during his visit to India, Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary conveyed to the Indian High Commissioner that this was not acceptable for Pakistan.

The statement of the Foreign Ministry said Kashmir is a disputed territory as per the UN Security Council resolutions which remain unimplemented. Pakistani leadership has always interacted with the Kashmir/Hurriyat leadership, during their visits to India. Pakistan sees no reason to depart from this established past practice. The Hurriyat leaders are true representatives of the Kashmiri people of the Indian occupied Kashmir. Pakistan regards them as genuine stakeholders in the efforts to find a lasting solution of the Kashmir Dispute.

Pakistan has proposed and conveyed to India a comprehensive agenda reflecting the broad understanding reached between the leaders in Ufa, that all outstanding issues, including Kashmir and other disputes, as well as, terrorism issues and other CBMs will be discussed between the two countries.

India's insistence to introduce conditionalities and restrict the agenda for the dialogue, demonstrates a lack of seriousness on India's part to meaningfully engage with Pakistan.

No compromise over meeting Hurriyat leaders

Pakistan will make no compromises over a planned meeting with Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders ahead of talks between the two countries' top security advisers in New Delhi, the political and military leadership decided on Friday.

A high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and also attended by Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif in Islamabad today decided that India's demand not to meet Kashmiri leaders is unacceptable.

It was decided by the political and military leadership that Pakistan would take Hurriyat leaders into complete confidence over the talks with India, sources said.

The meeting reiterated the Pakistani leadership's wish to resolve all outstanding bilateral issues through dialogue, the sources said.

National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz will be in the Indian capital for talks with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval on August 23 and 24th August as part of efforts to resume the dialogue process between the two countries.

Hurriyat leaders had been invited to a meeting with Aziz at the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi ahead of the talks.

India has threatened to cancel the NSA-level talks if Aziz goes ahead with the meeting.

"India has advised Pakistan yesterday that it would not be appropriate for Mr Sartaj Aziz to meet with Hurriyat (separatist) representatives in India," Indian foreign ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said on Twitter.

"Such a meeting would not be in keeping with the spirit and intent of the Ufa understanding to jointly work to combat terrorism," he said.

On Thursday, India briefly placed three senior Hurriyat leaders under house arrest in Srinagar, only to release them hours later in what was seen widely as a flip-flop on the contentious issue.

But latest reports from Indian media Kashmiri leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Shabir Shah were put under house arrest on Friday, just two days ahead of the crucial talks in New Delhi on Sunday.

In 2014, India cancelled talks between the foreign secretaries of the two nations after Pakistani envoy Abdul Basit met with Hurriyat leaders.