Pakistan formally invites India for talks on Kashmir

Foreign secretary hands over letter to Indian high commissioner

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday sent out a formal invitation to New Delhi for talks on the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions, at a time where there is constant curfew and complete media blackout for the past 37 days in Indian held Kashmir (IHK).

India has been asked to recognise that the core issue of Kashmir cannot be resolved by bullets; instead, it requires a political solution, through serious negotiations between the two countries.

There is a greater urgency in Islamabad to set aside other issues in the Composite Dialogue and concentrate on Kashmir because it sees this “as grim tragedy that has been unfolding in the IHK over the past five weeks, where thousands of unarmed youth are protesting every day for their right to self-determination, with more than 70 innocent Kashmiris killed and more than 6,000 injured”.

In this regard, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry “called in” Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale to the Foreign Office and handed over a letter addressed to his Indian counterpart, Jaishankar inviting him to visit Pakistan for talks on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute that has been the main bone of contention between Pakistan and India.

Monday was a closed holiday at the High Commission as it was celebrating its Independence Day.“The letter highlights the international obligation of both the countries, India and Pakistan, to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions,” the Spokesman at the Foreign Office said in a statement.

It is unclear whether there is backdoor diplomacy at work and both the capitals have decided that this was the time indeed to sit around the table. However, on Monday, Balochistan was dragged in for the first time by an Indian prime minister in his Independence Day message to the nation and it fell upon Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz to respond quickly, saying Modi was trying to divert the world attention from IHK.

“Prime Minister Modi’s reference to Balochistan, which is an integral part of Pakistan, only proves Pakistan’s contention that India through its main intelligence agency RAW has been fomenting terrorism in Balochistan. This was also confirmed by the public confession of RAW’s active service naval officer Kulbhushan Yadav in March this year,” Sartaj Aziz was quoted by his office as saying in response.

He added that these events in IHK have nothing to do with terrorism.“It is an indigenous movement for self-determination, a right promised to the Kashmiris by the UN Security Council. At this time, the contrast between the Indian occupied Kashmir and the Azad Jammu and Kashmir could not be more stark,” he pointed out.

Social media too is heating up as allegations and counter allegations fly around with Shivam Vij, an Indian journalist, tweeting, “If India is doing nothing wrong in Kashmir, and it’s all Pakistan’s doing, why not allow UNHRC to come and have a look? Show Pak’s doing…”.

Meanwhile, the heavens were certainly not kind to Kashmiri Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti as she tried, according to Indian media reports, to hoist the national flag as chief minister for the first time, and pulled the string attached to the post only to see the tricolour fall from the post and land on the ground.

Amid the embarrassing situation, two personnel from the security detail of the chief minister held the flag in their hands till Mehbooba gave the ceremonial salute to the flag.