Not possible to accept India’s advice on meet with Hurriyat leaders: Pak govt

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Aug 21, 2015 Pakistan on Friday turned down India’s “advice” not to hold meeting between its National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz with Hurriyat leaders in New Delhi.

 

India made it abundantly clear that a meeting between separatists and Pakistan’s NSA Sartaj Aziz, who is scheduled to arrive here on Sunday for the talks with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval, was unacceptable. Reacting to this, Pakistan said that ‘it would not be possible for Pakistan to accept this advice.’ In a press release, its spokesperson for Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “Kashmir is a disputed territory as per the UN Security Council resolutions which remain unimplemented. Pakistani leadership has always interacted with the Kashmir/Hurriyat leadership, during their visits to India. Pakistan sees no reason to depart from this established past practice.”
Pakistan remains willing to attend the NSAs meeting without any pre-conditions, it further said.

Earlier today, Eternal Affairs Minister Spokesperson Vikas Swarup, said “India has advised Pakistan yesterday that it would not be appropriate for Sartaz Aziz to meet with Hurriyat representatives in India. Such a meeting would not be in keeping with the spirit and intent of the Ufa understanding to jointly work to combat terrorism.”

The two NSAs are scheduled to meet in New Delhi for talks on terrorism-related issues for the first time on August 23, as decided in a meeting between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif last month in Ufa in Russia. The invitation by the Pakistan High Commission here to hardline leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and other separatist leaders including Umar Farooq on Sunday to meet Aziz has upset New Delhi but Pakistan has stuck to the line that such meetings were “routine”.

 

Courtesy: Indianexpress