India advises NSA Sartaj Aziz not to meet Hurriyat leaders

by news
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August 21, 2015

New Delhi: India has advised Pakistani NSA Sartaj Aziz not to meet separatist Hurriyat leaders before talks with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval, raising a question mark about the meeting of the NSAs scheduled for Monday.
This advice has put the NSA talks in doubt unless one side backs down. A statement issued by the MEA on Friday morning said, “India has advised Pakistan yesterday that it would not be appropriate for Mr. Sartaj Aziz to meet with Hurriyat representatives during his visit to India as it would not be in keeping with the spirit and intent of the Ufa understanding to jointly work to combat terrorism.”

India has been mulling its options ever since the Pakistan High Commissioner decided to invite the Hurriyat for a reception on August 23, 2015, shortly after Mr. Aziz lands. On Thursday, the government even ordered the arrest of Hurriyat leaders in Srinagar to prevent them from travelling to New Delhi.

They were subsequently released on the orders of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. With Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs making it clear it would go ahead with the meeting and a spokesperson saying Islamabad “expected India to allow the meeting” as it was normal practice, officials said it was necessary to make the stand clear in a public statement.

It has also beenreported earlier that talks over a draft agenda between Mr. Aziz and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval have also fallen through, with Pakistan insisting on broadening the talks and India wanting to restrict them to terror. Confirming this, MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, “We have also sought confirmation of our understanding of the agenda for the NSA-level talks that was conveyed to the Pakistani side on August 18, 2015.”

However, officials said, despite that India still looked forward to the talks going ahead, and was preparing for them. “Pakistan said yesterday they had not been advised of India’s opposition to the talks, and now they have been advised clearly,” one official, told the media adding, “Now it is for Pakistan to respond”.