Delhi responds to Islamabad invite, let’s talk terror, it’s central issue

Speaking at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia, Jaishankar said: “At times, domestic politics of our neighbours pose challenges. We have learnt to be patient. The rest of the region is with us in wanting a much more cooperative and connected South Asia but we have this one standout country which has a different view of terrorism, which makes it a difficult partner for all of us… Pakistan has a different view of South Asia and uses terrorism as a state policy.”

“The terrorism issue has become so central between the two countries that it makes the relationship difficult to grow… In the last two years, you have seen a great effort on our part to reach out to Pakistan. While we all agree that we should move forward, it does not always go very smoothly,” he said.

As the biggest country of the region, he said, India has to go the extra mile to reach out to its neighbours and make them feel secure. “We have to reach out to our neighbours, we have to offer them terms of engagement that are attractive to them,” he said.

Earlier in the day, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Jaishankar had expressed willingness to travel to Islamabad after receiving an invitation from Pakistan counterpart Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry. He, however, maintained that Pakistan had no locus standi in addressing any aspect of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, an internal matter of India, except to put an end to cross-border terrorism and infiltration.

“Since aspects related to cross-border terrorism are central to the current situation in J&K, we have proposed that discussions between the Foreign Secretaries be focused on them,” MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

New Delhi, sources said, wants to keep the focus on Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Islamabad’s invitation for Foreign Secretary-level talks came on the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day address, accused Pakistan of glorifying terrorism.

Modi also said he had received messages of support from Balochistan, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Gilgit. Sources said Modi had “ruminated” about human rights issues at these places since he was “troubled” by them, and had expressed concern.

“It did not come out of the blue. All issues related to what-next-and-how seem premature and irrelevant right now… We feel for people inside the country as well as outside the country. humanity does not stop at the borders,” sources said.

Asked if India was prepared to move away from its stated policy of non-interference in a neighbouring country’s affairs since it would be seen as meddling in Balochistan, sources pointed to the India-Sri Lanka accord in the past on the rights of Tamil minorities.

While such an approach had been adopted in the case of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal, this approach, sources said, was new in the case of Pakistan.

On Monday, in a statement calling for Foreign Secretary-level talks on Kashmir, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said it was the international obligation of both countries to resolve the issue, notwithstanding India’s insistence that it would talk on contemporary and relevant issues in bilateral relations.

Pakistan’s invitation came days after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament that India was only willing to discuss the issue of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and that there was no question of discussing Jammu and Kashmir with Islamabad.