New Delhi: A day after India yet again issued a demarche to Pakistan after summoning the Pakistani Deputy High Commissioner on Wednesday over continued cross-border violations, New Delhi said it did not “rule in” or “rule out” any bilateral meeting with the Pakistan PM’s advisor on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz who will be visiting India for the Heart of Asia (HoA) conference in Amritsar in the first week of December.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani will be inaugurating the conference. On reports that Pakistan is forming a special group for propaganda against India on the Kashmir issue and Mr Sartaj Aziz’s reported statement of Pakistan intending to woo Indians opposed to Prime Minister Modi, the MEA said, “He (Aziz) would be well-advised to rather woo Pakistanis to end his government’s policy of state sponsorship of terrorism... Pakistan’s efforts have not gathered any traction on the international stage. Pakistan would be well-advised to focus its energies on stemming the rot of terrorism instead of expending its breath in making baseless allegations.”
The MEA also said the Pakistani Army had committed 27 ceasefire violations between November 16 and 21, by resorting to artillery and heavy mortars against Indian posts. New Delhi had informed Islamabad that it (India) strongly deplored the tacit support of the Pakistan Army to armed terrorists who targeted an Indian patrol near the LoC in Machhal sector, killing three Indian soldiers, including inhuman mutilation of the body of one of them.
On the issue of talks with Pakistan, MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, “Our position on it (talks) is clear. We are for a dialogue with Pakistan. But talks and terror cannot happen together. It is incumbent on Pakistan to create the necessary environment for a conducive bilateral dialogue to happen.”
