ISLAMABAD – Foreign Office says Pakistan is deeply disappointed at theannouncement made by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhiabout the cancellation of the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of India andPakistan.

In a press release on Friday, Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr MohammadFaisal said the reasons cited by the Indian side for the decision to cancelthe Foreign Ministers’ meeting, within 24 hours of its public confirmation,are entirely unconvincing.

Dr Faisal said the alleged killing of BSF soldier took place two days priorto the Indian announcement of its agreement to hold the bilateral meeting.

The spokesperson said Pakistan takes this opportunity to categoricallyreject these allegations once again and offered to conduct a jointinvestigation to establish the truth.

Secondly, the postage stamps mentioned in the Indian statement were issuedbefore the 25th July 2018 elections, as a result of which the Government ofPrime Minister Imran Khan assumed office.

The stamps highlight the gross and systematic human rights violations inIndian Occupied Kashmir, which were extensively documented also in acomprehensive report issued by the United Nations High Commissioner forHuman Rights as late as June 2018.

Dr Faisal said Pakistan believes by its ill-considered cancellation of themeeting, India has once again wasted a serious opportunity to change thedynamics of the bilateral relationship and put the region on the path ofpeace and development.

He said Pakistan has always desired peaceful and good-neighborly relationswith India, on the basis of sovereign equality, mutual respect and mutualbenefit.