Dialogue with India minus Kashmir issue not acceptable: Sartaj Aziz

ISLAMABAD: Advisor to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz on Wednesday informed the National Assembly that Pakistan desired a meaningful and resulted oriented dialogue with India, however, the dialogue process minus the Kashmir issue would not be acceptable.

The Advisor said that as per reports, US President Barack Obama during his recent visit to India stressed the need to resume the stalled dialogue process with Pakistan, however, he said that Pakistan had not yet received any positive indication in this regard.

Sartaj said India in 2013 unilaterally suspended the dialogue process in wake of tensions on the Line of Control and the Working Boundary.

He went on to say that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 27, 2014 decided that the two Foreign Secretaries would meet at the earliest to discuss resumption of the stalled dialogue process. Following the decision the Foreign Secretaries of Pakistan and India were scheduled to meet on August 25, 2014. However, India announced cancellation of the scheduled meeting on August 18.

He further said that the Pakistan government has made its position very clear and that it remains committed to a sustained, meaningful and result oriented dialogue with India. He also said that since India abruptly cancelled the Foreign Secretaries’ meeting, the initiative for resumption of the dialogue process lies with India.