New Delhi retorts after Abdul Basit defends meeting with separatists
India has hit back at Pakistan’s argument that separatists are stakeholders in the dispute of Jammu & Kashmir and there was a “need to engage with them” to solve any dispute between the two countries. India’s strong reaction came soon after Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit defended his meeting with the Kashmiri separatists.
India underlined that after the Simla Agreement, there are only two “stakeholders” on the issue of J&K, that is India and Pakistan, and “none else.” India also stressed that Pakistan should respect the past bilateral agreements.
“After 1972 and the signing of the Simla Agreement by the Prime Minister of India and Prime Minister of Pakistan, there are only two ‘stakeholders’ on the issue of Jammu & Kashmir - the Union of India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. This is a principle which is the bedrock of our bilateral relations. This was reaffirmed in the lahore Declaration of 1999 between PM Nawaz Sharif and PM Vajpayee,” said Syed Akbaruddin, spokesperson for Ministry of External Affairs in response to Pakistan’s argument.
He added that any approach different to the one laid down in the Simla Agreement and the lahore Declaration does not yield results in India-Pakistan relations.
During an interaction with the media on Wednesday, Basit justified his meeting with Kashmiri separatists and said it was important to “engage with all stakeholders” before India-Pak talks. According to him, Kashmir issue should be looked at “dispassionately” and these meetings with separatists is to find a viable solution to the issue. He argued that Indian diplomats in Islamabad too meet people from all hues.
“We strongly believe that our interaction to the separatists is helpful to the process itself. It is helpful to find peaceful solution to the problem. It is important to engage with all stakeholders. That is the bottom line for us. It is not a question of either, or as far as we are concerned.
We are engaging with India to find peaceful ways,” Basit said.
India had objected to Basit meeting Kashmiri separatists before the Foreign Secretary-level talks in Islamabad scheduled for August 25. However, since Basit ignored Indian objections and went ahead with the engagements, India called off the talks. Basit maintained that meeting separatists has been a long-standing practice and Pakistan will continue talking to them despite India’s objection.
India believes separatists do not represent the voice of the masses in J&K. With PM Nawaz Sharif avoiding separatists during his visit to PM Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony, New Delhi was expecting a departure from Pakistan’s ways of engagement with India.
“Pakistan assured us, at the highest level, that they were committed to a peaceful dialogue on the issue of Jammu & Kashmir and would not allow Pakistan or territories under its control to be used for terrorism against us. We know now, particularly after the Mumbai terror attacks and the manner in which Pakistan has pursued subsequent investigations and trials, that this assurance had no meaning and that an approach that is different to the one laid down by the Simla Agreement and the lahore Declaration does not yield results,” said Akbaruddin.
On his part, Basit added that Pakistan attaches enormous importance to its ties with India and that though it was a “setback” there was no need to be pessimistic about cancellation of the Foreign Secretary-level talks. He said such setbacks should not discourage the two countries from resolving the Kashmir issue.
“A dialogue is not a favour by Pakistan to India or vice versa… We will not allow the peace process to be distracted. The bonhomie stemmed from the meeting of two PMs should be taken forward. The setback should not disappoint us, discourage us to find ways and means on how to take the process forward in line with our leadership’s visions on both sides of the border,” Basit said.
Meanwhile, in Washington, the deputy spokesperson for US department of State Marie Harf said the US is engaging with the governments of both India and Pakistan directly through its embassies to talk about this issue. “(We) Would strongly support efforts by both countries to improve their bilateral relations - all aspects of them. So it’s really up to them to take steps to improve that relationship,” Harf said.