India calls off talks over Pakistan envoy's invite to separatists

New DelhiSrinagarIn a tough move India Monday called off the Aug 25 foreign secretarylevel talks with Pakistan after the latters envoy held a meeting with a separatist Kashmiri leader Pakistan described the decision as a setback to its efforts to promote good neighbourly relationsExternal Affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin conveyed the Indian governments decision following Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basits meeting with separatist Kashmiri leader Shabir Shah in the capital Monday for consultations before the foreign secretarylevel talksForeign Secretary Sujatha Singhs visit to Islamabad for talks on Aug 25 stands cancelled he said adding that the talks have been called off as no useful purpose will be served by her visitIn a statement the Pakistan Foreign Office said it has been informed of Indias decision to call off the talks taking exception to the Pakistani High Commissioner in New Delhi holding meetings with Kashmiri leadersIt said it is a long standing practice ahead of bilateral talks to hold meetings with Kashmiri leaders in order to facilitate meaningful discussions on the issue of KashmirOther Kashmiri separatist leaders however said they would go on to meet the Pakistan high commissioner Tuesday and criticised the Indian government for calling off the talks over the contentious issue of the invitation to themAnnouncing the cancellation of the talks Akbaruddin said It was underlined that Pakistan high commissioners meeting with the socalled leaders of the Hurriyat undermined constructive diplomatic engagement initiated by the prime minister Narendra Modi on his very first day in officeThe Indian foreign secretary therefore conveyed to the Pakistan high commissioner today Monday in clear unambiguous terms that Pakistans continued efforts to interfere with Indias internal affairs were unacceptable he saidThe only path available to Pakistan is to resolve outstanding issues with peaceful bilateral dialogue within the framework and principles of Simla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration Akbaruddin addedJustifying the calling off of the talks Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said The ceasefire violations by Pakistan are deliberate Pakistan and some forces there do not want normalization of relations between both countriesThe ceasefire violations in recent days are not only happening on the Line of Control LOC but also along the international border I am sure that our soldiers will give a befitting reply to these ceasefire violations he told media in AmritsarWith these kind of provocations like the ceasefire violations and more seriously invitation to separatists to meet the Pakistan High Commissioner its for Pakistan to decide what kind of relationship it wants with India he saidThe Congress which had questioned the move to hold talks in the wake of Pakistans invitation to separatists said the Modi government needs to explain why it decided to have talks with Pakistan in the first placeI think the government needs to explain why in the first place it decided to go ahead with talks Congress leader Manish Tewari saidCongress leader Amarinder Singh said the Modi government had not done its homework before proceeding with talks with PakistanWhile it meeting with the Kashmiri separatist leaders was a diplomatic indiscretion on part of Pakistan the government of India also appeared not to have done its homework properly before deciding to go ahead with such highlevel talks he saidBharatiya Janata Party leader Siddharth Nath Singh meanwhile said provocation and peace cannot go togetherIn Srinagar senior separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq who respectively head the hardline and moderate factions of the Hurriyat said they will visit New Delhi Tuesday to meet Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul BasitSpeaking to media persons the Mirwaiz termed cancellation of talks as a serious blow to the dialogue process between the two countriesA spokesman of Geelani said cancellation of the foreign secretarylevel talks indicated the political immaturity of the Indian government He said Geelani would leave for Delhi Tuesday to meet the Pakistan high commissionerJammu and Kashmirs ruling National Conference termed the decision to call off the talks strange while the opposition Peoples Democratic Party called it a negative developmentAbdul Basit had invited Kashmiri separatist leaders including Geelani and the Mirwaiz for consultations Monday and Tuesday ahead of foreign secretarylevel talks