New Delhi: Former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Friday aimed a potshot at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government over the cancellation of the proposed talks between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
Taking to his Twitter account, Chidambaram said, “Monday-No talks, says MoS Defence; Tuesday-No talks, says HM; Wednesday-No Talks, says Defence Minister; Thursday-FMs will meet says MEA. Friday-No Talks, says Government. That is a lesson on ‘How to make foreign policy?’.”
The meeting between the two Foreign Ministers was scheduled to be held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York at the request of the Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.
However, back to back incidents of increased violence in the state and killing of security personnel has put off India from engaging with Pakistan government, with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) saying that behind Pakistan’s proposal for talks to make a fresh beginning, its evil agenda stands exposed and the true face of the new Pakistan Prime Minister has been revealed.
“Now, 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 Imran Khan has been revealed to the world in his first few months in office. Any conversation with Pakistan in such an environment would be meaningless. In view of the changed situation, there will be no meeting between the Foreign Ministers of India and Pakistan in New York,” MEA spokesperson Ravish Kumar said.
The abduction and killing of two SPOs and a constable by terrorists in South Kashmir’s Shopian district, along with the “recent release of a series of 20 postage stamps by Pakistan glorifying (Burhan Wani) a terrorist and terrorism,” were cited by India as the primary cause for cancelling the proposed meet.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]