Meeting Kashmiri leaders: 'Pakistan engages with all stakeholders'
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NEW DELHI: Pakistan remains hopeful of strengthening ties with India despite an angry New Delhi last week cancelling scheduled talks between the nuclear-armed rival neighbours, Pakistan's high commissioner said Wednesday.
Abdul Basit said Pakistan was confident of “overcoming this setback” after Delhi called off the diplomatic talks in Islamabad in a blow to warmer ties between the new Indian government and Islamabad.
Basit also defended his meetings with Kashmiri leaders earlier this week, a move that prompted Delhi to accuse its arch-rival of interfering in its domestic affairs and cancel the talks.
“We believe Kashmiris are a stakeholder in this (diplomatic) process, “Basit told reporters in the capital, explaining that the meetings with the separatists were a “longstanding” practice.
“We will not allow the process (of stronger ties) to be distracted in any way,”
Basit said, adding, “You will find Pakistan seriously committed to the process. “
“There is no reason why we should lose hope of a strong bilateral relationship,” he said.
Last month, the two countries scheduled talks between their foreign secretaries for August 25.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise move to invite his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, to his swearing-in ceremony in May spurred hopes that peace talks between the two countries could resume.
The warmer ties were dented last week when Modi accused Islamabad of waging a “proxy war” by sending militants to attack Indian targets.
There have also been several ceasefire violations across the Kashmiri border that have angered India.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence, two of them over the disputed Kashmir region.
Relations between the two neighbours broke down after attacks by Pakistani gunmen on Mumbai in 2008 left 166 people dead.
The United States earlier this week termed the cancellation of the talks disappointing.
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the US was engaging with the Indian and Pakistan governments to support efforts to improve their relations.
Basit also appreciate Indian Prime Minister Modi's statement on Independence Day that South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) nations need to work together.
He further said that time has come for India and Pakistan to move from confrontation to cooperation and added that "if both counties work together, sky is the limit."
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Comments (37) Closed
Aug 20, 2014 01:44pm
Very wise talk and a mascot of peace in the region , he surely deserves the peace Nobel not Obama.
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Aug 20, 2014 01:57pm
What a wise and noble person and such great words , he should be made PM of Pakistan then surely peace will reign in South Asia and the world.
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Aug 20, 2014 01:58pm
What is such a great and intelligent man doing in India , Pakistan should use him as chief adviser to army and federal govt.
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Aug 20, 2014 01:59pm
Only one country on earth (India) can tolerate such a demeanor by a foreign nation on its own soil. Just imagine Indian delegate meeting Pakistani separatists (which are such large in number) in Pakistan. Just like it sounds unacceptable for Pakistanis, whatever Pakistan keeps trying in India is unacceptable to Indians as well. Hope some common sense prevails in Pakistani media.
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Aug 20, 2014 02:06pm
Great Mr Basit. What about dialogue with terrorists in Pakistan who raided Karachi airport. And targeted Army HQ. And why Baluchistan nationalists were killed mercilessly?
Kashmiri separatists and Baluchistan separatists both have same demand of plebiscite. Why doesn't Pakistan take care of the aspirations of people living in your territory before preaching others. What security can Kashmiris expect when you so mercilessly kill Shias Ahmedias leave alone Sikhs and Hindus?
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Aug 20, 2014 02:11pm
Pakistan does not engage with all the stakeholders as they say. Hurriyat has lost its popularity support in the last 10-15 years. They do not represent J&K. There are elected leaders in J&K who are very active and have large followers. Pakistan should accept that time has changed. Talking to Hurriyat will not yield any thing.
They should also realize that they cannot take Kashmir from India. Border will not be redrawn. And this was realized by Gen Mushraff. So why r u investing so much in this lost battle.
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Aug 20, 2014 02:16pm
"'Pakistan engages with all stakeholders"...ok, even if we assume your 'dove' intentions for involving all stakeholders, why do you forget meeting Kashmiri Pandits all the time? Aren't they equal, if not greater stakeholders of Kashmir? Why double standards?
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Aug 20, 2014 02:22pm
Sure. Get out of PHK,hand over SAD HAFIZ, Dawood,Shakil,Azhar Mehmood and others who waged war on India.Then come with folded hands for ALMS and v may consider something for u. Alm seekers always talk big and creat trouble with a denial mode front.
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Aug 20, 2014 02:38pm
A very poorly written article.
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Aug 20, 2014 03:19pm
Damn right, time to bring some pride in our foreign policy. This is a country of 200 million, in any calculation thats a powerfully large number of people.
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Aug 20, 2014 03:21pm
@Bipul Do even have a basic understanding of world affairs. Your statement makes no sense.
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Aug 20, 2014 03:47pm
India should invite Baloach, and other separatists groups for talks next time we plan a meeting with Pak. Lets see how acceptable it is to Pak
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Aug 20, 2014 03:57pm
Self determination is a Kashmiri right which no one can take away. Regardless of parking 2million soldiers and building infrastructure to support soldiers.
Do you really think Kashmiris will give up this right with scare mongering tactics. Modi or whomever is in power cannot change that fact as that's a ground reality.
Accept that and let dialogue take place.
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Aug 20, 2014 04:04pm
"'Pakistan engages with all stakeholders"
Corrected: "'Pakistan engages with all muslim stakeholders"
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Aug 20, 2014 04:16pm
well done Mr Basit-we are impressed-FO showing mettle for once. Exposed Indian hypocrisy in wanting to resolve Kashmir.
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Aug 20, 2014 04:19pm
I think here Pakistani diplomat should have behaved little pragmatically. If there was real intention to sort outstanding issues then he should have acted little subjectively. If smaller issues first and bigger later then what is need to intimidate Indians?
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Aug 20, 2014 04:29pm
Having tea with great Kashmiri leaders is not a crime. It shows pakistan cares for them. It is part of famous pakistani mehmannavazi. Every country should learn from Pakistan. Don't we offer tea to our guests before we talk? What is harm in it? Tea is a healthy drink.
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Aug 20, 2014 04:43pm
Long standing practice does not turn a bad practice into a virtue!
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Aug 20, 2014 05:05pm
Abdul Basit a senior Foreign office person. What will happen if Indian High commissioner in London meets Altaf Hussain to inquire about the ill treatment given to urdu speaking by the Sindh Government
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Aug 20, 2014 05:38pm
@Hypocrisy? Why not? Please bring the Kashmiri Pundits in these discussions. We don't mind.
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Aug 20, 2014 06:39pm
@Bipul Kashmir was supposed to be part of Pakistan during partition, it was taken by force!
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Aug 20, 2014 07:08pm
Abdul Basit, when he was posted to India, many in the public had expected some change in Pakistan's attitude towards India. The grand move of Modi, to invite Sharif for the oath taking function was a total departure from the past. The gesture, though a path breaker attempt, had generated heat among the many heads in Pakistan( Shariff the PM, Sharif the army chief, Musharaf behind the screens, Hafeez Sayed and ISI). The PM had virtually performed a trapeze act to reach Delhi. We don't know under what terms he could make it. Everything looked hunky-Dory for a few days only. The incursions and violations were unleashed and escalated in spite of protests from India.Unconfirmed reports say this was done to instigate India into taking up an offensive posture, which could have helped the army to mount a coup. But there were only protests and some retaliation and no offensive moves from India. The PTI and PAT Unconstitutional moves could have been used as a reason by the army. But that will not be good justification. Hence as a last measure to induce India to act offensively, the Basit plan was initiated. Basit was warned by India to desist from meeting the separatists. Reports say he almost agreed but was forced by elements in the army to take a defiant attitude, to achieve their aim. That also failed when India took a diplomatic option. There have been many voices from Pakistan which say that Modi has saved his Pakistan counterpart.
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Aug 20, 2014 07:42pm
@Hypocrisy? Kashmiri pandits are more than welcome to attend any talks. Have they said they are interested? Did they go to Pak High Commission to see the High Commissioner? Did the High Commissioner refuse to see them?
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Aug 20, 2014 07:43pm
I think Pakistan needs to take a step back now. A year or two later when Modi-mania has cooled off a little bit in India, they will start talking more sense.
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Aug 20, 2014 07:59pm
@Bipul First you have to get it in your head that Kashmir is not part of India and is under UN resolutions which means to be decided by plebiscite which India has denied. You or any other Hindu saying it is part if India does not make it part of India-only the Kashmirs can decide their nations future and no one else otherwise it becomes an occupation like Indian occupied Kashmir. There are parties to the conflict of the disputed territory -Pakistan, Kashmir and India. So Pakistan talking to Kashmiri's is normal. India can go and sulk, that's fine by all, in the end they will have to come to the table to resolve Kashmir in accordance with the wishes of Kashmiri's.
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Aug 20, 2014 08:02pm
@Erik Good idea-let the 250,000 pundits come and sit with the 22 million Kashmiri Muslims and let their be plebiscite under UN supervision.
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Aug 20, 2014 08:26pm
@Bipul . Who told you Pakistan is against Indian leaders meeting Pakistani "separatists"? They can meet them all they want, whenever they want. No body will object. But what will such meetings lead to?
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Aug 21, 2014 01:01am
Why don't we start with the full independence of Azad Kshmir? This would create a tremendous pressure on India to give Independence to it's portion of Kashmir. Let's be the role model and create the Karshmiri nation and expect the peace to follow
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Aug 21, 2014 02:10am
That makes sense but Modi and party has some other agenda.
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Aug 21, 2014 03:15am
The meeting with Kashmiri leaders was a major miscalculation by the Pakistani foreign service. It is time to understand that it is not business as usual in Delhi.
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Aug 21, 2014 03:28am
Basit showed real guts by meeting more Kashmiri leaders after Indians canceled the meeting. Pakistan should award him.
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Aug 21, 2014 03:35am
Why would Kashmir want to join Pakistan after seeing the fate of Sindh, FATA, Balochistan and minorities there? Kashmir has had a long, rich history of equality among all religions.
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Aug 21, 2014 04:48am
These meetings of Pakistani envoy and Kashmiri leaders have no relevance left after the Indians cancelled the bilateral talks. Prime Minister Modi is playing a good game here, first he surprised by inviting PM Sharief and showed the world that he is for talks with Pak. Now he has put the blame on Pakistan of interfering in Indian matters and cancelling the talk. Mr Modi is currently playing from both sides and everybody is just watching and reacting.
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Aug 21, 2014 04:49am
@SBB Ask the Kashmiris that question.
They'll let you know their views in no uncertain terms.
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Aug 21, 2014 04:58am
They have Modi. We need Imran. Until then let's just off with our tails between our legs. Corruption has bought us to our knees in debt and we want to talk big against a giant like India. It will take us at least 10 years of corruption free and democratic rule to get to a level where we can start flexing our muscles on the world stage.
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Aug 21, 2014 08:23am
I think as long Kashmir is kept as the central issue, relationship between India and Pakistan can never become normal. This is well understood by both the parties.
The pot has been kept boiling for decades and has not helped the Kashmiris. We need a more imaginative foreign policy instead of doing same thing over and over again.
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Aug 21, 2014 08:26am
My Pak friends, if on basis of religion the Kashmiris want to accede to Pakistan. And your support to them is on this basis. Then why in your own backyard there is demand for independence by so many factions?
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