ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Satraj Aziz has said India is avoiding dialogue with Pakistan because that means issues such as Kashmir will have to be negotiated, Dawn.com quoted him as speaking during a Radio Pakistan programme.

Rejecting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent statement in which he placed the onus of stalled dialogue on Pakistan, Mr Aziz asserted that Islamabad was not refraining from talks.

He said Pakistan wanted extensive talks with India on issues such as Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek, economic cooperation, trade, visa rules and the detention of fishermen.

He said the Indian army had rejected an earlier agreement on Siachen between the two governments, as they had “stakes” in the glacier.

Mr Aziz had earlier said he was doubtful of progress towards normalisation of ties between the two countries. He had given credit to Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts for India’s failed membership bid of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

In a recent interview, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that because of his diplomatic efforts the world had seen that India was not reluctant to engage with Pakistan.

“Our approach has created difficulties for Pakistan, and they find it hard to respond on the matter in the international community,” said Mr Modi.

The Indian PM claimed there “are different types of forces operating in Pakistan”. He asked rhetorically if one had to draw a line or set conditions for dialogue; will it be “with the elected government or other actors?”

After Mr Modi’s surprise visit to Pakistan in December last year, the Pakistani and Indian foreign secretaries were scheduled to meet to discuss modalities of the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue agreed upon during Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Islamabad for the Heart of Asia conference.

However, the attack on an Indian air force base in Pathankot in January proved a big blow for any prospects of dialogue between the two sides.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2016