Pak blames India for delaying bilateral talks
Dec. 23: Pakistan on Thursday accused India of avoiding the resumption of the bilateral dialogue process that was stalled in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and “cherry-picking” the issues that it is willing to discuss. Foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit made the remarks while responding to a question during the weekly news briefing on Indian external affairs minister S.M. Krishna’s reported comment that Pakistan was responsible for the failure of talks held in July.
“India knows well who is responsible for the current impasse. It is India which is resorting to cherry-picking and avoiding to resume the dialogue process on all issues. India is also upset about our foreign minister’s raising the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in his statement at the UN General Assembly session,” Mr Basit said.
Responding to reported comments by Indian leaders that Pakistan had made the Kashmir issue central to all negotiations, Mr Basit said Islamabad could not afford to ignore alleged human rights violations by Indian security forces in the disputed Himalayan region. “Let me reiterate that Pakistan is ready to resume the dialo-gue process as soon as possible but not to the exclusion of the Kashmir dispute or other important issues.
It is difficult to explain as to how a country that indulges in grisly human rights violations and suppresses the inalienable rights of Kashmiris can claim to be the world’s largest democracy,” he said. Pakistan and India, Mr Basit said, need to discuss “all the issues that continue to bedevil our relations” and Islamabad has not sought the resumption of talks only on the Kashmir issue.
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