ISLAMABAD – The whirlwind visit of Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh to Pakistan only resulted in worsening the Pakistan-India tension instead of providing a respite amid the bloodshed in Kashmir.
At the onset, the visit looked far from friendly as India had ruled out bilateral talks on the sidelines of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation moot for the interior and home ministers here. The two countries had differed on the agenda of such talks as India wanted to restrict this engagement to security and terrorism related issues while Pakistan was adamant to discuss Kashmir, citing the new wave of state-sponsored terrorism in the held territory.
Singh left early for home as Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan tried to expose the human rights situation in Kashmir. The Interior Minister later said Singh had told him he would only attend the lunch if it was attended by Khan. “I had an important meeting so could not attend the lunch. But he should not have left like this,” the minister said.
India claimed Singh’s speech in Islamabad on terrorism was not broadcast by local media and Indian crews were not permitted to film it. “This is the Pakistan model of democracy,” retorted Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu in Delhi, after the Home Minister returned home.
Singh was attending a session of SAARC, which brings together eight South Asian countries, and he used his address to further India’s allegation of Pakistan ‘inciting’ the recent unrest in Kashmir.
Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said: “We have seen brute force against unarmed civilians. Shouldn’t suppress freedom struggle in the name of fight against terror.”
Officials said India’s claims about the ‘blackout’ of the Home Minister’s speech was a misleading as conventionally, addresses at SAARC summits are not filmed, except for the opening remarks.
But tension was a consistent theme. Khan and Singh did not shake hands, and neither of them attended the lunch for the SAARC visitors. Singh’s visit – the first by an Indian leader after terrorists attacked the air force base in Pathankot, killing seven military personnel – was important, New Delhi had said, because it was for a regional multi-lateral summit and not bilateral talks with Pakistan at a time of highly strained relations.
US States Department Deputy spokesperson, Mark Toner, meanwhile said Pakistan and India must work together to combat terrorism.
“Terrorism is obviously a reality in both countries, and Pakistan and India need to work together in order to effectively confront it. And that’s something we’ve long encouraged,” Mark Toner said.
He said that Pakistan needed to do all it can to confront all terrorists operating on its soil. “We’ve seen it make progress; we want to see more progress on its part,” he added.
Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria said Kashmiris should be given their birth right to self-determination, adding Pakistan wanted end of tension with India and talks for long-lasting peace.
“Pakistan wants to resolve all issues with neighboring countries through peaceful means. Kashmir is the fundamental issue between Pakistan and India, which should be resolved according to UN Security Council’s resolutions,” he said.
Zakaria said Kashmiris should be given their birth right to self-determination as promised in the UN resolutions.
Defence analyst Air Marshal Shahid Latif (retd) said Pakistan needed to call a conference of Islamic countries in order to pressurize India to stop its brutalities and violation of human rights in Kashmir.
“Although the Prime Minister has highlighted the Kashmir dispute in a very effective way yet the incumbent government has to work hard to convince other countries to put efforts for resolving Kashmir dispute in accordance with UN resolutions,” he added.
He said the Indian minister ran away from talks as New Delhi was not ready to accept Kashmir as a dispute. http://nation.com.pk/newspaper-picks/06-Aug-2016/singh-s-visit-escalates-pak-india-tension
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