No hostile environment, India-Pak will hold talks: Pak envoy Basit

Asserting that there is no hostile environment between New Delhi and Islamabad, Pakistan high commissioner Abdul Basit on Wednesday said the two nations will have to talk at some point and assured that a dialogue was a possibility.

“There is no hostile environment. We are two neighbours and we will have to talk. We will talk,” Basit told the media here.

Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement where he placed the onus of stalled talks on Pakistan, Prime Minister’s adviser on foreign affairs, Sartaj Aziz asserted that New Delhi was avoiding dialogue with Islamabad to avoid negotiations on crucial issues such as Kashmir.

Quoting Radio Pakistan, the Dawn reported that Aziz stressed that it was India, not Pakistan who was backing away from holding dialogues.

He said that Pakistan had plans for extensive talks with India on issues such as Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek, economic cooperation, trade, visas and the detainment of fishermen, amongst others.

In a recent interview to Times Now, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that due to his diplomatic efforts, India was not reluctant to engage with Pakistan.

“Our approach has created difficulties for Pakistan, and they find it hard to respond on the matter in the international community,” he said.

The Prime Minister also claimed there are “different types of forces operating in Pakistan”, and asked in a rhetoric fashion if one has to draw a line or set conditions for dialogue, will it be “with the elected government or other actors?”

Dialogue between the hostile neighbours hit a major roadblock after the attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot in January.