Pakistan's National Security Adviser (NSA) Sartaj Aziz on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of following an “anti-Pakistan policy” even as he insisted that Islamabad will participate in talks only if Kashmir is part of the agenda.
Aziz’s remarks, made during an interaction with the media in Islamabad, came on the eve of a planned meeting of the heads of India’s Border Security Force (BSF) and the Pakistan Rangers in New Delhi. This will be the first official contact between the two sides since the collapse of talks between the NSAs last month.
The policy of Prime Minister Modi’s government's has been “anti-Pakistan from the day one”, Aziz was quoted as saying by state-run Radio Pakistan.
Read:Pakistan Army chief says ready to respond to enemy's 'misadventure'
“Narendra Modi contested elections on (an) anti-Pakistan platform and now wants to dictate terms for the dialogue with Pakistan but we will never accept this and we have already conveyed it to New Delhi,” he was quoted as saying by Dawn News.
Kashmir will be part of any talks with India and the world community has accepted Pakistan’s point of view in this regard, he said. The talks between the NSAs were cancelled because of “inflexibility” shown by India and no dialogue with India can be successful without Kashmir being part of the agenda, he added.
The meeting of the chiefs of the BSF and Pakistan Rangers is aimed at reducing tension on the Line of Control and the international border. The issue of implementing the 2003 ceasefire along the frontiers in Jammu and Kashmir will be raised at the meeting, Aziz said.
Aziz rejected India’s allegations about mob boss Dawood Ibrahim’s presence in Pakistan and said a “befitting reply would be given to any Indian misadventure on that count”.
No one can dare to launch any attack inside Pakistan and if anyone did so, he would get a befitting response, he was quoted as saying by Dawn News. “Pakistan will not be pressured by Indian threats of an attack” and if India even thought of attacking, Pakistan will provide a “befitting response”, he said.
Read:India fires back after Sharif remark, says freeing PoK only issue
Tariq Fatemi, the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, told China's state-run Global Times that talks between India and Pakistan will not take place if New Delhi insists on "pre-conditions".
"Prior to the meeting (of the NSAs), the Indians placed pre-conditions on what can be discussed, what cannot be discussed and who we should meet and who we should not meet," he said.
"Now this is against international practice. Never before in the history of Pakistan and India talks, has any side placed pre-conditions. If India insists on the pre-conditions, the talks cannot take place," Fatemi said.
On Sunday, Pakistan Army chief Gen Raheel Sharif had responded to his Indian counterpart Gen Dalbir Singh’s remarks about terrorist violence triggering short wars by saying Kashmir is the “unfinished agenda” of Partition and his troops are ready to inflict an “unbearable cost” for any aggression.
India reacted sharply on Monday to the sabre-rattling by Raheel Sharif, with Jitendra Singh, minister of state in the prime minister’s office, saying the only matter to be settled with Pakistan was to get back parts of Kashmir under its illegal occupation.
Read:India fires back after Sharif remark, says freeing PoK only issue
Tariq Fatemi, the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, told China's state-run Global Times that talks between India and Pakistan will not take place if New Delhi insists on "pre-conditions".
"Prior to the meeting (of the NSAs), the Indians placed pre-conditions on what can be discussed, what cannot be discussed and who we should meet and who we should not meet," he said.
"Now this is against international practice. Never before in the history of Pakistan and India talks, has any side placed pre-conditions. If India insists on the pre-conditions, the talks cannot take place," Fatemi said.
On Sunday, Pakistan Army chief Gen Raheel Sharif had responded to his Indian counterpart Gen Dalbir Singh’s remarks about terrorist violence triggering short wars by saying Kashmir is the “unfinished agenda” of Partition and his troops are ready to inflict an “unbearable cost” for any aggression.
India reacted sharply on Monday to the sabre-rattling by Raheel Sharif, with Jitendra Singh, minister of state in the prime minister’s office, saying the only matter to be settled with Pakistan was to get back parts of Kashmir under its illegal occupation.