New Delhi - Abdul Basit, Pakistani High Commissioner to India
said on Thursday the peace discussion with India is postponed, while intimating
that the National Investigative Agency (NIA) will not be allowed to visit
Islamabad for the investigation into the Pathankot attack.
“I would say the discussion is postponed,” Basit said during a communication at the Foreign Correspondents Club while replying to a question on the status of the comprehensive two-sided discussion declared by both countries last December, reported Indian media.
“There is no meeting arranged between the foreign secretaries - Let’s see if we are able to begin the discussion process,” he said.
Abdul Basit created a stimulation by saying a Pakistani Joint Investigation Team’s (JIT) visit to India to review the Pathankot attack was not based on mutuality, shortly after the Indian external affairs ministry representative had said exactly the opposite.
“The visit of the Pakistan JIT was not based on mutuality, but on a spirit of cooperation,” the representative said when he was asked whether an NIA team will be allowed to visit Pakistan to review Pathankot attack.
Asked unambiguously if this meant Pakistan would not allow the NIA to visit, he said: “You can draw your own conclusions.”
Basit spoke on several other issues, including the arrest of the alleged RAW operative and the Kashmir issue.
“The recent arrest of Kulbhushan (Yadhav) in Pakistan unquestionably verifies what Pakistan has been saying all along. We all are aware of those who seek to create unrest in Pakistan and destabilize the country. They are bound to fail as the people of Pakistan are united to effectively counter anti-Pakistan destabilizing activities,” he said.
India and Pakistan, he said, should be “realistic” about the Kashmir dispute and efforts to put it on the backburner will be counterproductive. “It is the Jammu and Kashmir dispute that is the root cause of mutual distrust and other two-sided issues. Therefore, its fair and just resolution, as per the hopes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, is domineering,” he said.
Basit said his country would like to have a comprehensive dialogue with New Delhi to resolve their issues but is willing to wait if India isn’t ready. “As far as I know, there is no meeting arranged between the two foreign secretaries yet...let’s see if we are able to commence the dialogue process.”
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