Pakistan has stated for the first time since the Manmohan Singh-Gilani meeting in Egypt in July that it has not handed over a dossier on Balochistan to the Indian Prime Minister.
“No, we didn’t. Actually, we flagged the issue on Balochistan. We asked for a positive attitude and asked for non-interference inside Balochistan,” the Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, said in an interview to Outlook magazine .
He was asked about claims in the Pakistani media that such a dossier was handed over to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the meeting with his Pakistani Yousuf Raza Gilani at Sharm-el Sheikh on the sidelines of the NAM Summit.
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Balochistan’s reference in the joint statement issued after the meeting had evoked sharp reactions here. Pakistan has been accusing India of fomenting trouble in Balochistan, a charge it refutes.
The BJP and several other political parties have slammed the Prime Minister for agreeing to the mention of Balochistan, saying the government has yielded to Pakistan without thinking of its implications.
Dr. Singh had later explained that India has nothing to hide and did not see anything wrong with the reference in the joint statement which made a mention of Pakistan having raised the issue of Balochistan during the talks.
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Mr. Qureshi also questioned the visit of Home Minister P Chidambaram to the US which is seen by Pakistan as an attempt to put pressure on it to take action against LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind behind the Mumbai terror attacks.