Pakistan never demanded the inclusion of Kashmir and other issues on the agenda of talks between the National Security Advisers (NSA), says Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit. In what seems to be a marked shift in position, Mr. Basit said that Pakistan had requested additional talks between the Foreign Secretaries to discuss “outstanding issues like Kashmir” and the “modalities for taking the dialogue forward,” and suggested sending Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhury along with NSA Sartaj Aziz to Delhi. However, he said, the Indian government rejected the Pakistani request.
“The fundamental reason for the cancellation of talks was that we differed on the interpretation of the Ufa agreement. We never wanted to broaden the agenda. We wanted the NSAs to speak only on terrorism, and we had many things to discuss on that. But we wanted to use the opportunity to discuss the way forward as well,” Mr. Basit said in response to a question from The Hindu , participating in a television show “Press Conference” on the ABP News Channel.
The MEA didn’t respond to requests for a comment on the High Commissioner’s latest comments. Speaking to The Hindu , however, a senior official confirmed the Pakistani request for a meeting between the Foreign Secretaries. “We received the note verbale requesting the inclusion of FS Chaudhury in Mr. Aziz’s delegation to Delhi some weeks before the talks, and it was under process. Then we realised from their public pronouncements that Pakistan didn’t want a simple pull-aside meeting between the Foreign Secretaries but were making it into something much bigger.”
In the week before the NSA meet that had been scheduled for August 23-24, both Mr. Aziz, and Mr. Basit had made statements insisting that Kashmir would be on the agenda of the talks. Asked if Mr. Basit’s latest statement represented a change in Pakistan’s position on NSA talks, the official said his words “didn’t square up” with other utterances the Pakistan government was making.
Modi’s U.N. visit
The High Commissioner’s appearance on the ABP News TV show, that is yet to be aired, comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to the U.N. later this month. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is also visiting Washington in October, is expected to attend the same special session commemorating 70 years of the U.N.
When asked if the Prime Ministers could meet on the sidelines of the summit, or that the NSA talks that were cancelled could now take place in New York, Mr. Basit refused to answer.
“There must be clarity on what the meeting can achieve. As High Commissioner, I would always wish that the two sides can sit and talk together,” he added.
