At 11th hour, NSA talks called off
Islamabad refuses to accept New Delhi’s preconditions
Sartaj Aziz. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
In another blow to normalisation efforts between Pakistan and India, the scheduled talks between the national security advisers (NSAs) of the two neighbours were called off just hours before Sartaj Aziz, the prime minister’s adviser of national security and foreign affairs, was set to fly to New Delhi.
India’s intransigence is to blame for the cancellation of the meeting between Aziz and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval which was agreed upon by the prime ministers of the two countries in their meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in the Russian city of Ufa last month.
“Pakistan reiterates the scheduled NSA talks cannot be held on the basis of the preconditions set by India,” Pakistan’s Foreign Office announced Saturday night just two hours before the deadline set by India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was set to expire, putting an end to speculation on whether the meeting scheduled for today [Sunday] would take place.
At a news conference in New Delhi earlier in the day, Swaraj had said Aziz was welcome in the Indian capital only if Pakistan assured India by midnight that the planned NSA meeting would focus only on terrorism-related issues and that Aziz would not meet Hurriyat leaders during his stay.
“[After] carefully analysing the contents of the press conference of India’s minister for external affairs… we have come to the conclusion that the proposed NSA-level talks will not serve any purpose if conducted on the basis of the conditions laid down by the minister,” the Foreign Office said in a detailed statement issued in response.
“While the Indian minister accepts that in order to ensure durable peace between the two countries there is a need to discuss all outstanding issues through a sustained dialogue process, she unilaterally restricts the agenda to only two items – creating an atmosphere free from terrorism and [ensuring] tranquility along the Line of Control (LoC),” read the statement.
It pointed out that terrorism had always been part of the eight-point composite dialogue and was always discussed alongside other issues whenever the interior secretaries of Pakistan and India met. “It is not reasonable for India to now assume the right to decide unilaterally that from now onwards other issues will be discussed after terrorism has been discussed and eliminated.”
It said the main purpose of any dialogue between India and Pakistan is to reduce tensions and restore trust as a first step towards normalisation. “If the only purpose of NSA-level talks is to discuss terrorism, then instead of improving the prospects for peace, it will only intensify the blame game and further vitiate the atmosphere.”
“That is why Pakistan had suggested that apart from discussion on terrorism-related issues, the two sides should also discuss modalities and if possible a time schedule, for discussions on all outstanding issues, including Kashmir, Siachen and Sir Creek, in keeping with the understanding of the Ufa statement,” the statement added. “That is the only way to improve the prospects for peace between the two countries.”
Responding to India’s second precondition of scrapping Aziz’s meeting with the Hurriyat leaders, the Foreign Office said: “It would be inappropriate for India to now impose the condition of changing this longstanding practice.”
The statement added that “considering that many ‘terror’ incidents India initially blamed Pakistan for eventually turned out to be fake, it is not improbable that India can delay the resumed dialogue indefinitely by concocting one or two incidents and keeping the LoC hot.”
Earlier in the day, before Swaraj put forth India’s terms, Aziz at a news conference said that “on my part, I am still prepared to go to New Delhi for the NSA talks without any preconditions.” He expressed disappointment at India’s ‘virtual cancellation’ of the meeting and recalled that New Delhi had done the same last August by calling off foreign secretary-level talks.
The premier’s adviser also dispelled “India’s wishful narrative that only Pakistan’s military establishment is pushing the agenda towards the Kashmir issue.”
“India’s foreign policy establishment fails to realise that the entire Pakistani nation stands united and fully committed to providing political, moral and diplomatic support to Kashmiris struggling for their right to self-determination,” he said.
RAW stoking terror in Pakistan: Aziz
Aziz dismissed the impression in the Indian media that Pakistan was seeking to scuttle the talks out of apprehension over the dossier prepared by India’s national security adviser.
“I will also be carrying three dossiers on RAW’s [Research and Analysis Wing] involvement in promoting terrorism in Pakistan,” he said while showing the documents to reporters. The adviser said he would hand over the dossier to his Indian counterpart during the UN General Assembly meeting in New York if he could not do so in New Delhi. He added that he would also share the dossier with the UN secretary general.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 23rd, 2015.
In another blow to normalisation efforts between Pakistan and India, the scheduled talks between the national security advisers (NSAs) of the two neighbours were called off just hours before Sartaj Aziz, the prime minister’s adviser of national security and foreign affairs, was set to fly to New Delhi.
India’s intransigence is to blame for the cancellation of the meeting between Aziz and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval which was agreed upon by the prime ministers of the two countries in their meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in the Russian city of Ufa last month.
“Pakistan reiterates the scheduled NSA talks cannot be held on the basis of the preconditions set by India,” Pakistan’s Foreign Office announced Saturday night just two hours before the deadline set by India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was set to expire, putting an end to speculation on whether the meeting scheduled for today [Sunday] would take place.
At a news conference in New Delhi earlier in the day, Swaraj had said Aziz was welcome in the Indian capital only if Pakistan assured India by midnight that the planned NSA meeting would focus only on terrorism-related issues and that Aziz would not meet Hurriyat leaders during his stay.
“[After] carefully analysing the contents of the press conference of India’s minister for external affairs… we have come to the conclusion that the proposed NSA-level talks will not serve any purpose if conducted on the basis of the conditions laid down by the minister,” the Foreign Office said in a detailed statement issued in response.
“While the Indian minister accepts that in order to ensure durable peace between the two countries there is a need to discuss all outstanding issues through a sustained dialogue process, she unilaterally restricts the agenda to only two items – creating an atmosphere free from terrorism and [ensuring] tranquility along the Line of Control (LoC),” read the statement.
It pointed out that terrorism had always been part of the eight-point composite dialogue and was always discussed alongside other issues whenever the interior secretaries of Pakistan and India met. “It is not reasonable for India to now assume the right to decide unilaterally that from now onwards other issues will be discussed after terrorism has been discussed and eliminated.”
It said the main purpose of any dialogue between India and Pakistan is to reduce tensions and restore trust as a first step towards normalisation. “If the only purpose of NSA-level talks is to discuss terrorism, then instead of improving the prospects for peace, it will only intensify the blame game and further vitiate the atmosphere.”
“That is why Pakistan had suggested that apart from discussion on terrorism-related issues, the two sides should also discuss modalities and if possible a time schedule, for discussions on all outstanding issues, including Kashmir, Siachen and Sir Creek, in keeping with the understanding of the Ufa statement,” the statement added. “That is the only way to improve the prospects for peace between the two countries.”
Responding to India’s second precondition of scrapping Aziz’s meeting with the Hurriyat leaders, the Foreign Office said: “It would be inappropriate for India to now impose the condition of changing this longstanding practice.”
The statement added that “considering that many ‘terror’ incidents India initially blamed Pakistan for eventually turned out to be fake, it is not improbable that India can delay the resumed dialogue indefinitely by concocting one or two incidents and keeping the LoC hot.”
Earlier in the day, before Swaraj put forth India’s terms, Aziz at a news conference said that “on my part, I am still prepared to go to New Delhi for the NSA talks without any preconditions.” He expressed disappointment at India’s ‘virtual cancellation’ of the meeting and recalled that New Delhi had done the same last August by calling off foreign secretary-level talks.
The premier’s adviser also dispelled “India’s wishful narrative that only Pakistan’s military establishment is pushing the agenda towards the Kashmir issue.”
“India’s foreign policy establishment fails to realise that the entire Pakistani nation stands united and fully committed to providing political, moral and diplomatic support to Kashmiris struggling for their right to self-determination,” he said.
RAW stoking terror in Pakistan: Aziz
Aziz dismissed the impression in the Indian media that Pakistan was seeking to scuttle the talks out of apprehension over the dossier prepared by India’s national security adviser.
“I will also be carrying three dossiers on RAW’s [Research and Analysis Wing] involvement in promoting terrorism in Pakistan,” he said while showing the documents to reporters. The adviser said he would hand over the dossier to his Indian counterpart during the UN General Assembly meeting in New York if he could not do so in New Delhi. He added that he would also share the dossier with the UN secretary general.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 23rd, 2015.