Days of uninterrupted talks with Pakistan over: Indian minister

OIC group says lasting peace in S. Asia depends on resolving Kashmir dispute as per UNSC resolutions

IN a rather terse reply to a suggestion for talks about normalisation of India-Pakistan ties, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has declared that “the era of uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan is over”.

The minister’s remarks came shortly after Islamabad had formally invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which will be held soon in Islamabad.

According to media reports, while speaking at a book launch in Delhi the minister first said that “uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan” is no longer possible and then stated that “actions have consequences”.

Mr Jaishankar then brought up the issue of Occupied Kashmir, saying: “So far as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, I think [Article] 370 is done.”

Asked about the kind of relationship India can contemplate to have with Pakistan, he said that perhaps New Delhi is content to operate at the current pace of things. He went on to say: “We are not passive, and whether events take a positive or a negative direction, either way, we will react.”

Meanwhile, at a meeting of the OIC Contact Group on Occupied Kashmir held on the sidelines of the 50th Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in Cameroon, Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi apprised the audience of the ongoing situation in the disputed territory. He also highlighted India’s efforts to strengthen its control over Occupied Kashmir in violation of UN resolutions.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Contact Group reiterated its support for the Kashmiri people’s pursuit of self-determination and issued a joint statement, unanimously declaring that lasting peace and stability in South Asia depend on resolving the Kashmir dispute as per the UN Security Council resolutions and aspirations of the Kashmiri people. 

Pakistan is set to host the SCO heads of government meeting on October 15-16 in Islamabad.