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India tells Pakistan: Don't be in denial on terror

The meeting between India's foreign secretary S. Jaishankar and Pakistan's Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry went on for nearly 90 minutes.

New Delhi: India firmly asked Pakistan not to be in denial over the impact of terrorism on bilateral ties while Pakistan kept harping on Kashmir, terming it as the “core issue” between the two.

The meeting between India’s foreign secretary S. Jaishankar and Pakistan’s Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry went on for nearly 90 minutes. Several issues, including the probe into the Pathankot terror attack, the 26/11 trial and the Sam-jhauta Express blast investigations were raised.

India raised the issue of the “abduction” of former naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, saying he had been forcibly taken to Pakistan, and sought im-mediate consular access. This is the first time In-dia has clearly said that Mr Jadhav was abducted.

In a statement, Pakistan said it had raised the “capturing” of Mr Jadhav and expressed serious concern over RAW’s alleged involvement in subversive activities in Balochistan and Karachi, a charge that was strongly rebutted by India.

“India’s foreign secretary emphasised the need for early and visible pro-gress on the Pathankot terrorist attack investigation as well as the Mumbai case trial in Pakistan, an MEA spokesperson said.

Pakistan says kashmir is the core issue
Tuesday’s meeting was the first formal interaction of the two foreign secretaries since their scheduled talks were put on hold in the wake of the Pathankot attack in January.

The Pakistani statement emphasised the importance of Kashmir and said the matter was raised by Mr Chaudhry. The statement added that it remained the “core issue that requires a just solution in accordance with UNSC resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people”.

Interestingly, the Pakistani side released the talking points while the meeting between the two foreign secretaries was still on. The statement by Pakistan also said: “All outstanding issues, including the J&K dispute, were discussed.”

( Source : Deccan Chronicle with agency inputs )
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