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NEW DELHI: India, responding to Pakistan’s plan to discuss Jammu and Kashmir, has given its list of issues that must be addressed before any progress is possible.
Reports on Saturday quoted India’s foreign ministry as responding to the statement by Foreign Policy Adviser Sartaj Aziz to invite India for dialogue on Jammu and Kashmir.
The ministry claimed Delhi welcomed dialogue on relevant issues and at this time it included stoppage of “Pak-supported cross-border terrorism”.
In a statement, the ministry said: “Would welcome dialogue on relevant issues in India-Pakistan relations and at this time it includes stoppage of Pak-supported cross-border terrorism.”
Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said that before the start of a dialogue Pakistan must address “incitement to violence and terrorism across the border, parading of internationally recognised terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and Syed Salahuddin, and sincere follow up on the Mumbai attack trial and the Pathankot attack investigation”.
Days after India insisted that it would discuss only Azad Kashmir with Pakistan, Mr Aziz had said on Friday that Pakistan planned to invite India for a dialogue on the Kashmir issue.
“Our foreign secretary would formally be writing to his counterpart in this regard,” Mr Aziz had said as he briefed the media about the Envoys Conference held on August 1-3 to deliberate on major foreign policy challenges faced by Pakistan and make recommendations. He said the conference had spent considerable time on the grim situation in Kashmir.
Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said: “Unlike in the past we cannot agree that dialogue with sponsor and supporters of terrorism should carry on without being linked to action in that regard.” She was obliquely referring to Pakistan.
“Threat of terrorism dominates global concerns today. It is an issue which has confronted Indian diplomacy for many years because of its cross-border manifestation,” she said. “At the international level we are also putting the spotlight on early conclusion of a comprehensive convention on international terrorism,” she added.
Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2016
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Comments (61) Closed
Aug 14, 2016 08:34am
A very timely and correct step in the light of distinction between good and bad terrorists by Pakistan
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Aug 14, 2016 08:36am
Well done India.
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Aug 14, 2016 08:35am
Absolute points for the talk. This is Modi government.
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Aug 14, 2016 08:40am
its getting boring now.
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Aug 14, 2016 08:41am
Stop cross border terrorism
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Aug 14, 2016 08:43am
Good Diplomacy!
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Aug 14, 2016 08:52am
India sponsoring and supporting terrorism by providing finance, intelligence and other means to destabilize Pakistan. This issue should be highlighted in the UN and to the international community. The death of more than 70 people in Quetta is a RAW sponsored act.
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Aug 14, 2016 08:52am
Accept or reject
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Aug 14, 2016 08:52am
Where is UN!!?????
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Aug 14, 2016 08:59am
Wait for the great game, here modis government
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Aug 14, 2016 09:04am
Perfecto and Bravado
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Aug 14, 2016 09:10am
Aziz wanted to make himself look good by poking India in the eye. What kind of policy advice is that? Aziz is not even attempting to negotiate anything in good faith. "Reasonable people can have reasonable differences." All Aziz accomplished was to put India on the defensive to placate the Pakistani public. This was nothing but game playing, and it is not helpful. Publicly embarrassing India only prolongs the agony of Kashmiris. Purportedly Aziz is only an advisor without the power to negotiate for the government of Pakistan.
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Aug 14, 2016 09:18am
You both - stop playing with the poor emotional public, who suffered and continue to suffer the most
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Aug 14, 2016 09:18am
Say YES and start talking. Terrorists are also killing Innocent children in Pak, why can't we fight all the terrorists?
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Aug 14, 2016 09:18am
Clear cut demands - act or no talks! We have been doing that for 60 years.
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Aug 14, 2016 09:23am
Pakistan can try but India is least interested. India will never want peace with Pakistan. India wants a breakup of Pakistan. It is involved in terrorism in Pakistan and instigates , funds and engages cross border destabilization .
This dialogue is strictly for show.
If they want ed peace they would have not killed 68000 men women and children in Kashmir.
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Aug 14, 2016 09:32am
Well done india
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Aug 14, 2016 09:35am
Very rightly said by the Indian foreign office.
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Aug 14, 2016 09:38am
There will always be pre-conditions - meanwhile the people of Kashmir will continue to suffer due a lack of vision.
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Aug 14, 2016 09:49am
Did india forget they are the masters of cross border terrorism. Their PM admitted Mukti Bahni involvment in seperation of east pakistan. Daily Involvement in Balochistan. They should look in the mirror before levelling blames. Furthermore, Pakistan government too is useless as they do not raise the issue of India,s involvement in using Afghan as a base to infiltrate in Balochistan .
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Aug 14, 2016 10:23am
Please dont waste time if conditions is in place. Conditions mean they are not serious and only need to discuss thing at own will...
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Aug 14, 2016 10:38am
The problem is that India equates fight for freedom from Indian occupation of Indian-held Kashmir to terrorism. India needs to understand that freedom fighters cannot be called terrorists otherwise there won't be a bigger terrorist in history than a certain Bhagat Singh and his group of militants!
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Aug 14, 2016 10:58am
It is not diplomacy - just Business communication skills and point scoring in the eyes of the World who have very little to loose or gain from all this.
Hope we get little maturity soon.
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Aug 14, 2016 11:11am
Are these Indians planning for peace talks or rattling preconditions for offering matrimonial services?
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Aug 14, 2016 11:25am
Pak should set its own condition.
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Aug 14, 2016 11:26am
Clear vision
--------------------------
Stop interference.
Happy what you have.
Be brotherly.
Anything else, another 1000 years same condition, who knows human chapter ends before Ind-Pak issue resolve.
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Aug 14, 2016 11:44am
Means India never want peace talks...
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Aug 14, 2016 01:37pm
India Pakistan peace talk will be a miracle. As India blames Pakistan for what India is perpetrating through its friendly country Afghanistan. How many consulates India have in Afghanistan and with what mandate?
Mandate of India is to use Afghanistan against Pakistan and China,and sabotage CPEC & its Pak-China project of CPEC through terrorist and terrorism activities in Pakistan.
India's and their sponsored terrorists have been indulging in the same cross border terrorist activities inside Pakistan through crossing Pakistani-India border,&through routes used through Afghanistan for at least over these passing few decades.May be it will be right to say that it all had just started after 1947 partition as soon as India occupied Indian Held Kashmir (IHK).
India give-up this approach, before India gets divided into more then twenty smaller states. What goes around comes around.The solution, solve the IHK issue through UN resolution plebiscite at an early date.
Stop blaming Pakistan.
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Aug 14, 2016 02:46pm
Pakistan is suffering from Indian sponsored terrorism on it's soil.So Pakistan has a long list of terms and conditions that Indians need to pay attention and comply with
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Aug 14, 2016 03:03pm
Pakistan should tread carefully and not fall into the trap of talks. If India has preconditions for talks, then the talks will fail.
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Aug 14, 2016 04:19pm
How about we also talk about Indian terrorism in Pakistan via groups like TTP and using Afghan soil to do this. We should also bring up capture of Kulbushan Jhadev. If you want to talk about terrorism then lets talk about ALL terrorism.
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Aug 14, 2016 05:26pm
bad leadership on both sides... both of these announcements were made to antagonize the other side, not one of them is sincere to work/compromise toward the resolution of the conflicts.
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Aug 14, 2016 06:42pm
The only way is to team up rather than ranting the old blame song. No doubt if both India and Pakistan authorities team up together, they can bring peace to the region.....if they keep playing the same old drum......we will stand in the same old dirty ground and history will never forgive us.
My 2 anaa request for both powerful nations is to team up and make the region peaceful rather than following egoistic mentality and stay divided.
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Aug 14, 2016 06:47pm
I wonder why FO is asking for dialogues despite knowing indian old songs...He got the answer then.i hope mr sartaj wont humiliate himself and us further....
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Aug 14, 2016 07:07pm
I think nobody wants to talk
It is a game of shadows
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Aug 14, 2016 08:07pm
Is Indian leadership blind? Can't they see that there violence in Kashmir occupied by India and not the Kashmir under Pakistani control? Do the Indians know why? Because Kashmiris don't want to live under Indian control. It is not rocket science but occupation.
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Aug 14, 2016 08:11pm
Demilitarization of occupied kashmir is must before talks with Indian govt otherwise talks will be failed. India should deploy its army on LOC instead of within the valley to counter infiltration. Blame game will never come to an end
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Aug 14, 2016 10:14pm
Pakistan will raise the issue of Indian terrorism in Pakistan, sarabjit singh and kulbhushan yadav, and also the occupation of Siachen and Kashmir! and Samjhota express incident! and many more.
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Aug 14, 2016 10:38pm
Neither side is totally devoted to peace in the sub-continent. Both need to cool down the rhetoric of calling each other evil and arousing their countrymen to the "Boogeyman." Both need to explain to their people why they need to compromise and why peace is an existential need.
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Aug 14, 2016 10:58pm
Right of Self Determination for the people of Jammu & Kashmir first every other other
thing next.
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Aug 14, 2016 11:58pm
@IAhmed then please raise, whos stopping, let's get all terrorism resolved and libe in peace
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Aug 15, 2016 05:00am
@Denali no problem.
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Aug 15, 2016 05:01am
@IAhmed no idea what all of that means.
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Aug 15, 2016 05:58am
The 'List of demands'! LOL
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Aug 15, 2016 06:03am
@Khalid :"Pak should set its own condition."
Then the talks will NOT happen. It is very clear that India is in no hurry to have any talks whatsoever. India would rather postpone the talks for as long as it takes. If Pakistan is happy with that, then let the status quo remain in place.
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Aug 15, 2016 07:31am
@Alba Intelligent people, responsible people should think on the major issues at hand - lack of food, housing, electricity, medical facilities, roads etc. in India and Pakistan.
Once the country progresses economically, most of the issues related to terrorism will die down. Can we all think long-term? India is trying to grow as an economic power. The focus on this front is remarkable.
In the meanwhile, eliminate all the 'good' and 'bad' terrorists, stop interfering in other's internal affairs, and more importantly don't irritate the other country in any way.
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Aug 15, 2016 02:16pm
why dont we put all our cases on them . sincerely they are responcible
why we are becoming silent???
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Aug 15, 2016 04:42pm
@Zak You need to stop supporting them. Otherwise its pointless talking to you.
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Aug 15, 2016 06:03pm
While other countries have good neighborly relations i.e. America and Canada, we in the Sub-Continent are still in the same mind-set as 70 years back, during independence, when over a million lost their lives, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs. We have not got out of this mind set. We cannot even pretend to have gone out of this mind-set, this is how deep it is etched into our very minds. Only time will heal, when people in general become very tired, and wish to start a new life, we and they will think differently. This deep seated hate has been stoked by both sides, this is a lose lose relationship that we have. Just realize that.
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Aug 15, 2016 07:33pm
Modi is the king of politics.
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Aug 15, 2016 08:53pm
We are not all interested in talking to India till they come to senses. They have enough on their plate solving the IHK issue. STOP KILLING INNOCENT PEOPLE.
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Aug 15, 2016 09:07pm
The india pakistan peace process is not possible because that will not be in the long term strategic interest of a emerging superpower -that always wanted to contain india using a pliant proxy for past 3 decades. ..
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Aug 15, 2016 11:37pm
@Khan where is the evidence of India's presence in such attack? Pakistan always come up with jingoist approach to India if any such attacks take place on their soil without investigation .Stop harboring overestimated view for India. We do not stoop down to such level of degradation which Pakistan has been doing with India in past 70 years. Refer to Richard Olson, former USA envoy to Pakistan has to say about Pakistan.
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Aug 16, 2016 05:52am
If you want to talk for the sake of talk, then go ahead. Otherwise it is useless exercise.
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Aug 16, 2016 07:22am
Why blame India when everyone says the same about us? Our passport is the second worst in the world (after that great nation of Afghanistan with whom we do not seem to get along). Everyone in the world seems to believe our primary export is Islamic Terrorism (IT) while India is known for Information Technology (IT). Our undiplomatic ambassador talks of Kashmir all the time. Why not go to war for one last time to resolve this issue, if we dare that is, instead of talking about it incessantly?
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Aug 16, 2016 07:28am
@stranger : when the intention is to influence the domestic audience don't except anything . there won't be any talk immediately or in the coming couple of months.
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Aug 16, 2016 12:48pm
Why can't we both nations live in peace like East west Germany, France and Britain, Canada and USA, why we people always choose to be like puppets in the hands of ill politicians and nations who want us to always at daggers drawn so that war equipment can be sold. People on both sides must stand up to this.
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Aug 16, 2016 01:18pm
@Khakan If Pakistan drops Kashmir word from their list, accepts existing LOC as final and focused on making life of its countrymen better, problem is already solved. Now think who wants to continue the problems?
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Aug 16, 2016 02:05pm
@Khan feeling the heat! what about us who are suffering from 1970s with the same kind of policies by you?
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Aug 16, 2016 02:18pm
@fatir siddiqi
Sir you remember op. Gibraltar?
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Aug 16, 2016 06:19pm
@Khakan Well we all know it's a lie but at this moment many Indians wish this could be true.
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