The meeting that was scheduled this month between Foreign Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi at UNGA in New York, was called off by India on Friday. This decision was taken because of the “brutal” killing of three policemen in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistan-based entities, as well as the release of postal stamps showcasing the terrorist Burhan Wani a ‘freedom icon’. Responding to the decision, Pakistan PM Imran Khan has termed this action as “arrogant and negative”.
MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar quoted the two incidents as “two deeply disturbing developments” that have taken place, The Times of India reported. Raveesh Kumar, Spokesperson at Ministry of External Affairs, told the reporters, “It’s obvious that behind Pakistan’s proposal for talks to make a fresh beginning, evil agenda of Pakistan stands exposed and true face of new Prime Minister of Pakistan has been revealed to world in his first few months in the office.”
#WATCH: MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar says, "It’s obvious that behind Pakistan’s proposal for talks to make a fresh beginning, evil agenda of Pakistan stands exposed & true face of new Prime Minister of Pakistan has been revealed to world in his first few months in the office" pic.twitter.com/e25STpUlTh
— ANI (@ANI) September 21, 2018
“The recent developments show that any dialogue with Pakistan is meaningless,” he said, announcing the decision.
The horrific murder of three policemen
Reportedly, three policemen were kidnapped on Tuesday and murdered by terror group Hizbul Mujahideen after they did not quit despite the group’s “final warning”. The brutal murder followed Hizbul’s warning video released recently where they had threatened to kill policemen who do not submit their resignations online. According to NDTV reports, terrorists attacked four policemen at their homes in south Kashmir on Friday. Three of their bodies covered in bullet wounds were discovered later in an orchard, while the fourth policeman was apparently freed with the help of villagers.
Stamps, hailing Burhan Wani as a martyr, were released
Deccan Chronicle reported that recently, 20 “commemorative” postage stamps had been issued by the Pakistan Post portraying the slain Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists such as Burhan Wani as “victims of atrocities by Indian troops in Kashmir”, in an attempt to glorify them. These postal stamps are available on e-Bay.
According to Kumar, the spirit reflected in separate letters from Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi is what resulted in finalisation of this meeting with India. He said that the letter from Khan spoke of his wish for a mutual initiative to discuss bringing a positive change and peace, and an eagerness to talk about terrorism. However, the proposal was accepted by India after a letter from Imran Khan to Narendra Modi, urging to resume bilateral talks on important issues “challenging the relationship”.
Minister of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar confirms cancellation of meeting, citing "unclean intentions" on Pakistan’s side.https://t.co/KxkNvVpjbw
— Dawn.com (@dawn_com) September 21, 2018
Opposition parties were also fiercely against the government for accepting such a meeting and demanded an explanation as to why go ahead with talks when Pakistan-based terrorists are so horrifically murdering Indian security personnel along the Jammu and Kashmir state. There have been quite a few incidents on the attack on security personnel and their families in the past few months.
We did it: Congress on cancellation of India-Pak talks https://t.co/tGq59Ifocw pic.twitter.com/8dqOScfh4v
— NDTV (@ndtv) September 21, 2018
Another such high-level meeting between the two nations was called off in 2016 after the air base terror attack in Pathankot. However, India had repeatedly been asking Pakistan to take action for talks to happen. After this incident, India had carried out ‘surgical strikes’ across the LoC in 2016 to retaliate against these Pakistan-based groups’ terror strikes. India has always maintained that talks and terror can never go hand-in-hand.
Imran Khan expresses his displeasure
Taking to Twitter on Saturday, the Pakistan PM expressed a strong discontent over India’s cancellation.
Disappointed at the arrogant & negative response by India to my call for resumption of the peace dialogue. However, all my life I have come across small men occupying big offices who do not have the vision to see the larger picture.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) September 22, 2018
“Disappointed at the arrogant & negative response by India to my call for the resumption of the peace dialogue. However, all my life I have come across small men occupying big offices who do not have the vision to see the larger picture,” his tweet read.
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