No talks with India until restrictions will be lifted in Kashmir: Pak FM

Islamabad: After calling India’s proposal for bilateral talks as “conditional dialogue”, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Sunday said that there will be no talks with India until restrictions in Kashmir was suspended, report news agency IANS.

On Saturday in an exclusive interview with BBC Urdu, the Minister said Pakistan had no objection to holding bilateral talks with India and that it would also welcome mediation by a third party.

Read | Pakistan ready for 'conditional dialogue' with India: Shah Mehmood Qureshi

He said the talks could take place if India lifted the restrictions in Kashmir which were imposed ahead of New Delhi’s move to revoke Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

But Qureshi added that he did not see a favourable atmosphere for negotiations from the Indian side.

Ruling out war, the Foreign Minister stressed that Pakistan has never adopted an aggressive policy and always prioritised peace.

“(A war) will cause loss of people and the world will be affected by it, so war is not an option,” he told BBC Urdu.

Tensions have escalated between India and Pakistan ever since New Delhi on August 5 revoked Article 370 of its Constitution that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and divided it into two Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.