New Delhi: Terming India’s decision to call off the bilateral meeting between external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York as “arrogant and negative”, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi without naming him. “All my life I have come across small men occupying big offices who do not have the vision to see the larger picture,” Mr Khan tweeted on Saturday.
His sharp reaction came after the Pakistani foreign ministry, late on Friday night, reacted to India’s decision, saying Islamabad is “deeply disappointed” and that the reasons being given by India for calling off the meet “are entirely unconvincing”. On Friday, the Indian government, citing “the latest brutal killings of our security personnel by Pakistan-based entities and the recent release of a series of 20 postage stamps by Pakistan glorifying a (slain) terrorist (Burhan Wani) and terrorism,” had called off the meeting in New York.
Challenging India’s reasons, the Pakistan foreign ministry said the killing of the BSF soldier had taken place before Thursday’s announcement by India of the bilateral meeting and that the postage stamps on Burhan Wani had been issued before Mr Khan assumed office as Pakistan’s PM. Denying any role in the killing of the BSF soldier, Islamabad also offered “to conduct a joint investigation to establish the truth”.
India had, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said, “by its ill-considered cancellation of the meeting, has once again wasted a serious opportunity to change the dynamics of the bilateral relationship and put the region on the path of peace and development”. On September 14, Mr Khan had written to Mr Modi about India and Pakistan resuming dialogue that have been suspended since 2015.
