The invitation by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to hold peace dialogues between the estranged two countries was accepted and were proposed to be held at the sidelines of UN, but as soon as it learned about the recent killings of three policemen by the Pakistani army and the glorification of terrorists by Pakistan prompted to draw back from its decision. After withdrawing the decision, Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan criticized India for the cancellation of the proposed talks between the two countries, and called the back stepping as “arrogant” and “negative”.
High-level officials from both the countries were scheduled to meet in New York.
But India on Friday backed out of the proposed talks by blaming “latest brutal killings of our security personnel by Pakistan-based entities and the recent release of a series of twenty postage stamps by Pakistan glorifying a terrorist and terrorism”.
Pak PM Khan expressed his utter disappointment over his Twitter handle on Saturday.
“Disappointed at the arrogant & negative response by India to my call for resumption of the peace dialogue,” Khan said on Twitter.
“However, all my life I have come across small men occupying big offices who do not have the vision to see the larger picture.”
India has been accusing Pakistan of carrying out terrorists’ operations in Kashmir valley along with arming rebel groups there.
Most recently, Pakistan issued postage stamps of Burhan Wani, whom India considers to be a terrorist and was killed by Indian troops in July 2016, and his death turned out in violent protests in India-administered Kashmir.
India’s foreign ministry issued a statement saying: “It is obvious that behind Pakistan’s proposal for talks to make a fresh beginning, the evil agenda of Pakistan stands exposed and the true face of [the] new Prime Minister of Pakistan has been revealed to [the] world in his first few months in the office”.
The decision by India prompted criticism from Islamabad.
The Foreign Ministry of Pakistan said in a statement on Friday, that the government was “deeply disappointed” at the decision and commented over the reasons by India as “entirely unconvincing”.
Pakistan rejected the allegations of killing and the mutilation of the Indian border policemen and called the propaganda by India as motivated and malicious one.
“By falsely raising the canard of ‘terrorism’, India can neither hide its unspeakable crimes against the Kashmiri people nor can it delegitimize their indigenous struggle for their inalienable right to self-determination,” the statement added.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Saturday said that he was “deeply saddened” by the back stepping by India.
“It was an opportunity [for progress in bilateral ties], which I think India’s domestic circumstances did not allow to materialise,” said Qureshi. “There is no precedent of how diplomatic norms were trampled.”
You May Also Read: Son Of Veteran BJP Leader Jaswant Singh Quits BJP Amid Preparations For Rajasthan Elections