India has once again imposed a condition before resuming talks with Pakistan in response to Islamabad’s desire to normalize bilateral ties with its nuclear-armed neighbor.
A spokesperson for the Indian foreign ministry was quoted as saying on Thursday, “India reiterated its position on relations with Pakistan and said that a ‘conducive atmosphere free of terror’ is needed for talks,” according to state-run ANI.
The spokesperson for the Indian foreign ministry, Arindam Bagchi, responded to a question at a press briefing by saying: We have already stated that we have always desired normal relations with Pakistan as neighbors.
“But there should be a conducive atmosphere that is free of terror, hostility, or violence,” he added. This is still our position.
The remarks came four days after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to hold “serious and sincere talks” to resolve the hot issues with New Delhi, including Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), during an interview with the Al Arabiya news channel.
The premier stated, “Let us sit down [at] the table] and have serious and sincere talks to resolve our burning issues like Kashmir. This is my message to the Indian leadership and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
According to PM Shehbaz, IIOJK is the scene of daily flagrant violations of human rights, and the neighboring nation has taken away any semblance of autonomy granted to Kashmiris by Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. In August of 2019, the autonomy was taken away.
Additionally, the premier stated that Indian minorities “are being persecuted.” This must end in order to convey to the world that India is prepared to negotiate.
Pakistan and India “are neighbors and must live together,” according to PM Shehbaz.
After the Modi administration revoked IIOJK’s special status in 2019, ties between the two nuclear-armed nations ended. Since then, terrorism in the Himalayan valley has continued unabated.
In November 2003, Islamabad and New Delhi reached an agreement on a ceasefire along the Working Boundary and the Line of Control (LoC). However, the truce was repeatedly broken after Modi came to power in 2014.
This week, the spokesperson for the Foreign Office, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, told journalists that Pakistan would welcome the United States’ assistance in resolving the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
She stated, “Regarding the relations between Pakistan and India and the facilitation by third parties, including the United States, Pakistan has always said that we would welcome the international community to play their role in promoting peace in the region, including in facilitating dialogue and resolution of the core dispute between Pakistan and India, i.e. the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.”
