No talks on Kashmir, only terror: India to Pakistan

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar expressed his willingness to travel to Islamabad after receiving an invitation from Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry. Sources said he, however, maintained that Pakistan has no locus standi in addressing any aspect of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, which is an internal matter of India, except to put an end to cross-border terrorism and infiltration.

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“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,” sources said.

In a statement Monday, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria had said that “it is the ‘international obligation’ of both the countries to resolve the issue, notwithstanding India’s insistence that it would talk on ‘contemporary and relevant’ issues in Indo-Pak relations.”

“The Foreign Secretary called in the Indian High Commissioner this afternoon (August 15) and handed over a letter addressed to his Indian counterpart, inviting him to visit Pakistan for talks on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute that has been the main bone of contention between India and Pakistan,” Zakaria said.

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The development comes amid strained bilateral ties between the two countries over the Kashmir issue. Pakistan’s invitation came on the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day address, accused Islamabad of glorifying terrorism. Modi said he had received messages of support from Balochistan, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Gilgit.

Earlier, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament that India was only willing to discuss the issue of PoK and that the question of discussing Jammu and Kashmir with Islamabad does not arise. India, on its part, has made it amply clear to Pakistan that it will only discuss “contemporary and relevant” issues in India-Pakistan relations.

Meanwhile, the United States has urged for greater communication and counter-terrorism cooperation between the two countries. “We have said that many times,” State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner said Tuesday.

A PTI report from Geneva quoted UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein appealing to both India and Pakistan to grant his team access to Jammu and Kashmir as well as PoK.

“I deeply regret that our requests for access have not been granted,” said the High Commissioner who has sought access for a team to visit both Jammu and Kashmir and PoK to independently look into allegations of human rights violations.