Though the much-anticipated Indo-Pak Foreign Ministers’ meeting did not materialise here, India on Thursday said it did not perceive it as a setback and was looking forward to the visit of Shah Mahmood Qureshi to New Delhi for talks.
“Certainly not,” External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna told PTI when asked whether the inability of the two Foreign Ministers to meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session here had been a setback.
“I have invited him (Qureshi) to come to Delhi after my Islamabad visit and I am looking forward to receiving him in New Delhi so the talks are going to continue,” he said.
Both sides have refrained from blaming each other, but Mr. Qureshi indicated that India changed its mind while Mr. Krishna said Pakistan was not prepared to have talks.
“Well it takes two hands for a clap... my Foreign Secretary (Nirupama Rao) was ready... I called in the Joint Secretary who deals with Pakistan hoping that there would be talks with the Foreign Minister of Pakistan,” Mr. Krishna said.
“He came here without his Foreign Secretary and well talks didn’t happen,” he said. “So the question of preparedness will have to be verified isn’t it?”
Mr. Krishna and Mr. Qureshi were both here to attend the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly and a bilateral meeting was widely anticipated.
The meeting, however, did not take place, apparently because India was put off by Mr. Qureshi raising the Kashmir issue at several fora there, including the United Nations.
Mr. Krishna, however, denied that the spat over Kashmir was the reason for the talks not panning out this week. “No not at all,” he said when asked whether Kashmir had thrown a spanner in the work.
“No we are not afraid of Kashmir... he raised it at the United Nations... well India responded to that,” he added.
Addressing the General Assembly On Wednesday, Mr. Krishna said Pakistan must stop its state-sponsored militancy and terrorism in Kashmir.
“Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral part of India, is the target of Pakistan-sponsored militancy and terrorism,” he said.
Speaking at the UN on Tuesday, Mr. Qureshi raised the issue of the “right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people” and a “plebiscite under the UN auspices.”
Mr. Krishna, however, stressed that there was nothing extraordinary in this strong exchange of words.
“Well, all that he said or I said is a reiteration of whatever positions they have and we have had earlier and we have talked despite those positions, which we have held tenuously,” he said.
Both the ministers have said that they were looking forward to the next round of talks in New Delhi for which dates have to be set through diplomatic channels.
Mr. Krishna also categorically denied receiving any “suggestions” from Pakistan to make Indo-Pak talks more “meaningful.”
“We have not received any of those suggestions,” he said, referring to Mr. Qureshi’s remarks that Islamabad had sent New Delhi suggestions through diplomatic channels to make the talks more meaningful.
