India on October 18 said the onus was on Pakistan to create conducive conditions for talks by taking steps such as action against terrorists and dismantling terror infrastructure operating from its soil.
During a media briefing, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar reiterated India’s stand that talks and terror cannot go together and said this was one of the reasons why the scheduled meeting in New York between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan was cancelled.
Barely 24 hours after agreeing to the engagement, the government had called off the meeting in September, citing the brutal killings of three policemen in Jammu and Kashmir and Islamabad releasing postage stamps “glorifying” Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani.
Asked if there was any message or signal from the Pakistani side for talks, Mr. Kumar said, “I am not aware of any proposal for a track 1 or track 1.5 dialogue or a meeting between India and Pakistan.”
“The onus is on Pakistan to take credible steps, to create conducive conditions, for such talks which of course means taking action against terrorists, taking action against terrorist infrastructure which operates from its soil,” he said.
Asked about Pakistan Army’s statement warning of “10 surgical strikes” against India in response to a single such attack, Mr. Kumar said, “You should ask this question to the Indian Army, they will give a befitting reply to them.”
India-Pakistan ties have nose-dived in view of a number of terror strikes by Pakistan-based groups. India retaliated by carrying out ‘surgical strikes’ in September 2016 across the Line of Control (LoC). India has been maintaining that terror and talks cannot go together.
Accepting the proposal for the meeting in New York, India had, however, made it clear that it was not resumption of dialogue and the decision doesn’t change the country’s position on cross-border terrorism.
