Not ‘mistreated’ but barred from speaking to press: Sartaj Aziz on India visit | World News - Hindustan Times
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Not ‘mistreated’ but barred from speaking to press: Sartaj Aziz on India visit

ByImtiaz Ahmad, Islamabad
Dec 04, 2016 11:39 PM IST

Aziz also said that he was barred from speaking to reporters during his visit to India and and that he was making up for it upon his return.

Pakistan Prime Minister’s advisor on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz denied news reports that he was mistreated during the Heart of Asia conference in Amritsar, while addressing the media back in Islamabad. He said that he did not regret attending the conference as Pakistan’s participation “was welcome by every quarter”.

Pakistan's National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz speaks during a news conference at the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad on December 4, 2016, after attending the 6th Heart of Asia (HoA) Ministerial Conference in Amritsar in India.(AFP Photo)
Pakistan's National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz speaks during a news conference at the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad on December 4, 2016, after attending the 6th Heart of Asia (HoA) Ministerial Conference in Amritsar in India.(AFP Photo)

Aziz also said that he was barred from speaking to reporters during his visit to India and and that he was making up for it upon his return. “The attitude towards the media was not good. I wanted to have press interaction with our own media. But we were not allowed,” he alleged.

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He added that the arrangements made for his stay were “strange” since the Pakistani delegation was housed in a separate hotel and were not allowed to have any guests.

To a question on whether a breakthrough was achieved on India-Pakistan ties, Aziz said that he had not expected any in the first place. “To talk on bilateral issue at a multilateral conference cannot be done,” he said. Aziz said that all the meetings he held in India were generally pleasant. “They were not structured or detailed meetings.”

He said cross-border firing had come up over the issue of investment in the region. “I said how can you expect heavy investment if there is such cross border firing.”

Aziz also spoke about Pakistan’s relationship with Afghanistan. He said the two nations were like ‘congential twins’ and that “India cannot divide us but the situation is much more complex than it is made out to be.”

PTI reports that Aziz said he “exchanged pleasantries” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, finance minister Arun Jaitley and NSA Ajit Doval in Amritsar, hours after India said there was no Indo-Pak bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia meet.

(With agency inputs)

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