New Delhi squandered opportunity for peace once again: FO

Reasons cited for cancellation entirely unconvincing, spokesperson says

Islamabad on Saturday expressed 'deep disappointment' over New Delhi calling off a planned meeting between foreign ministers of India and Pakistan on the sidelines of a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York, Radio Pakistan reported.

FO Spokesperson Muhammad Faisal said the development was an emblem of how India had once again squandered an opportunity for peace. Faisal said the reasons cited for cancellation were "entirely unconvincing".



India's Ministry of External Affairs said the meeting were called off after the “brutal killings of security personnel by Pakistan-based entities and the recent release of twenty stamps by Pakistan glorifying a terrorist and terrorism”.

Categorically rejecting the allegations, the FO said a joint investigation team could probe Indian claims.

Faisal said the killing of a Border Security Force (BSF) soldier took place two days prior to India's assent to the then-proposed ministerial meeting. The stamps were released before the 2018 general elections in July.

He said the stamps were issued to highlight abject rights violations  by occupation forces in Indian-occupied Kashmir. Faisal said a 2018 report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights documented the same.

Faisal said that New Delhi's turnaround had squandered an opportunity to reset ties between the regional rivals. He said the meeting could have presented an opportunity to further regional peace and development.



Reiterating the importance of dialogue and diplomacy, he said Pakistan's quest for peace in South Asia will remain undeterred. He said statements made by the Indian ministry against Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan violated all norms of civilised discourse and diplomatic communication.