Salman Khurshid asks Pakistan to own the responsibility of LoC killings

PM Nawaz Sharif has expressed regret but hasn't accepted responsibility, says Indian external affairs minister.

SRINAGAR: Indian external affairs minister Salman Khurshid said that the Pakistan government must own the responsibility of the attacks on Indian soldiers and the recent firing that allegedly took place in violation of the 2003 ceasefire.

"The responsibility must rest with the government. Our meeting point is the civilian elected government of Pakistan, not the Pakistan Army or any other agency," he said.

Khurshid evaded a direct reply to a question on whether there would be a meeting between the prime ministers of the two countries on the sidelines of the UNGA in New York.

Referring to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's statement on the killing of five Indian soldiers, Khurshid said that there was no indication of any acceptance of responsibility for the attack.

"One element is that the regret about what has happened, which has certainly been mentioned. But, there is no indication of acceptance of responsibility".

“We have said that we expect responsibility. That hasn't happened. Secondly, the other concern of what we have been expecting ... culpability for what happened in Mumbai. There has been no indication for that. And, finally, the statement doesn't take into account the outreach and the extra mile that India has periodically gone to overcome great difficulties posed," Khurshid told Karan Thapar on the Devil's Advocate programme of CNN-IBN.

Bharatya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajnath Singh said that India's patience was at an end and demanded that all dialogue between India and Pakistan be stopped after India claimed that Pakistan violated the ceasefire for the second time in a day on Sunday.

He also said that the Indian government should send back the Pakistani envoy in New Delhi back to Islamabad and that the Indian ambassador in Islamabad be called.

 (Correction: An earlier version of the story incorrectly mentioned Salman Khurshid as Salman Bashir. The error is regretted.)