New Delhi/Islamabad: The cancellation of the NSA-level talks comes as an immense setback for India-Pakistan relations and reflects the demise of the Ufa spirit, which means that the situation on the borders could worsen given the belligerent attitude of the Pakistan Army.
It is also expected to mean curtains for proposed talks between the top brass of the paramilitary forces on the borders of the two sides scheduled for September 6 and also the DGMO-level talks. Restoration of the formal dialogue process between the two neighbours could take several months and the developments have also cast a shadow on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposed visit to Pakistan for the Saarc summit in 2016.
It is also doubtful whether there would be any meeting between the two Prime Ministers at the UN in New York next month. The bitterness increased on Saturday after Pakistan NSA Sartaj Aziz’s allegations and assertion earlier in the day that he would come to Delhi with a dossier of RAW’s activities in Pakistan.
“The talks will not be held if Pakistan doesn’t give these assurances ... Pakistan has until tonight to respond,” Ms Sushma Swaraj said on Saturday evening. She read out relevant parts of the statement agreed upon by both countries at Ufa to emphasise that the proposed talks, as decided at Ufa by both countries, were to be only on the issue of terror.
New Delhi also made it clear that talks on other issues between the two countries, including the Kashmir issue, would be held with Pakistan only once terror and violence on Indian soil is stopped by Islamabad. She also said India was not setting any pre-conditions for talks.
