New Delhi, March 24: The BJP has targeted the UPA Government for Pakistan’s new-found assertiveness and India’s meek response on the Foreign Secretary- level talks.
That Pakistan is trying to set the agenda for the next round of Foreign Secretary level talks is borne out by the fact that it has raked up non-issues such as the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) along with Kashmir.
BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar dubbed it an insult to Indian diplomacy that Pakistan was placing conditions on the next round of talks, after the first round failed.
Javadekar said the party feared that Pakistan was virtually forcing India to resume composite dialogue. The government had taken the stand that resumption of dialogue was not possible until Pakistan acted firmly against those involved in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks but made a u-tur n and eventually agreed.
Although, in the first round, the Indian Government had allowed Pakistan to raise any issue, including J&K, IWT and Baluchistan, India chose to remain focused on terror.
In fact, BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Indus Water Treaty had already provided a framework for sorting out water issues amicably and that it was never a major issue between the two countries. But Pakistan is now trying to make a controversy of it.
–Agencies–