NEW DELHI – India cancelled on Friday a rare meeting between its foreignminister and her Pakistani counterpart scheduled to have taken place on thesidelines of the UN General Assembly, only a day after announcing it wouldtake place.
The Indian foreign ministry blamed the “latest brutal killings of oursecurity personnel by Pakistan-based entities and the recent release of aseries of twenty postage stamps by Pakistan glorifying a terrorist andterrorism”.
It added that the recent actions had revealed Pakistan’s “evil agenda” andthe “true face” of the country’s new Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The statement did not specify which killings it was referring to, butearlier this week an Indian border guard in the disputed territory ofKashmir was killed and his body mutilated.
And on Friday three policemen were found dead after being abducted inIndian-administered Kashmir.
India has long accused Pakistan of arming rebel groups in Kashmir, aHimalayan territory divided between the two countries but claimed in fullby both.
Pakistan recently issued postage stamps of Burhan Wani, a charismaticKashmiri militant commander killed by Indian troops in July 2016, whosedeath sparked a wave of violent protests in India.
The meeting in New York between Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj andPakistan’s Shah Mehmood Qureshi was only confirmed on Thursday.
It came after Khan wrote to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi callingfor a resumption of talks between the nuclear-armed foes.
High-level talks between India and Pakistan are rare. Indian mediadescribed the slated meeting as the first in nearly three years.
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“The decision to agree to Pakistan’s proposal for a meeting between theForeign Ministers of the two countries in New York later this month was inresponse to the spirit reflected in the letters from the new Prime Ministerand Foreign Minister of Pakistan,” Friday’s Indian statement said.
“The letter from the Prime Minister of Pakistan had spoken of… bringing apositive change and mutual desire for peace as also readiness to discussterrorism,” it added.
“Now, it is obvious that behind Pakistan’s proposal for talks to make afresh beginning, the evil agenda of Pakistan stands exposed and the trueface of the new Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan has been revealed tothe world in his first few months in office,” it said.
“Any conversation with Pakistan in such an environment would bemeaningless.”
Qureshi told Pakistan’s ARY TV channel that he was “surprised anddisappointed”
“We had given a positive signal and India too had hinted aboutnegotiations,” he said.
“India has once again shown that it cares more about its own politics thanregional peace and stability,” he added.
Asked if Pakistan will approach India again for negotiations, he said: “No,we wanted negotiations in a dignified way.” – APP/AFP
