Pakistan monitoring LoC situation, Indian statements

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan says that it is monitoring the situation on the Line of Control and Working Boundary as well as assessing provocative statements from New Delhi in the wake of the Gurdaspur terrorist attack, and will decide in a few days whether to accept the dates proposed by Delhi for a meeting between the two National Security Advisors.
On Friday the Delhi government had leaked to the media proposed dates of August 23–24 that it had officially proposed to Islamabad for a meeting between Sartaj Aziz and Ajit Doval with Indian diplomats being optimistic about continued engagements in the coming months.
Earlier last month Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Narendra Modi had agreed at Ufa that there would be a meeting in New Delhi between the two NSAs to discuss all issues connected to terrorism.
“Yes we have received the proposal from the Government of India but right now we are monitoring the situation and our response will depend on how the situation evolves in the coming days. We have not confirmed these dates but give us a few days to decide”, a senior diplomat involved in the process told The News.
When asked specifically what the government would be assessing he pointed to the continued violation of 2003 agreement on the Line of Control and also on the Working Boundary together with the fact that according to ISPR, 55 incidents of ceasefire violation by Indian troops have taken place since July.
“Just two days ago Indian troops resorted to unprovoked heavy weapons and small arms firing on Line of Control (LoC) in Battal Sector where the ISPR says that intense exchange of firing took place”, he added.
Last month also saw the summoning of the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Dr T C A Raghavan to the Foreign Office by Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry to lodge a strong protest over airspace violation at Banchirian Sector near Bhimber.
“Pakistan has also taken up the issues of Heli maneuvers near the LoC which were meant to threaten us and an Indian spy drone brought down by our troops which entered Pakistan’s air space in violation of the international law, Pakistan’s territorial integrity and the two agreements of 1991 on Air Space Violation and SOPs of advance notice for military exercises, military maneuvers and troops movement”, the official recalled.
These daily provocations were not helping the bilateral dialogue, the official admitted. Nor were the recent accusations by Home Minister Rajnath Singh who told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that the terrorists behind the Gurdaspur attack had “infiltrated from Pakistan”. However, he stopped short of blaming the Pakistan government.
Instead the Foreign Office here had asked Delhi to refrain from levelling baseless allegations and instead “work with Pakistan to eliminate terrorism from the region and create an environment of peace and amity in South Asia while sharing any concrete evidence in this case.
Meanwhile, Saturday also saw demonstration by the Congress Youth Wing in front of Pakistan High Commission in Delhi against the statement of Dr Qadeer Khan to BBC saying that the late Indian president Abdul Kalam was an “average scientist” and did not make any major contributions to the field of science and technology.
The comment by Qadeer was in bad taste against a departed soul but thankfully the demonstrations remained peaceful, a diplomat commented.
“It should be remembered that after Kalam’s death the Pakistan High Commissioner in Delhi and the NSA Sartaj Aziz formally condoled Kalam’s death. In fact in its official condolence message Pakistan had said, “Dr Kalam will be remembered for his meritorious services for his country. Qadeer’s views are his personal ones and have nothing to do with the government”, the diplomat added.