The fate of India-Pakistan Foreign Secretary talks had almost been sealed even before Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah reached the Pakistan High Commission premises on Monday afternoon.
Ministry of External Affairs sources told The Hindu that India had conveyed its “strong disapproval” to Pakistan even before the meeting between Mr. Shah and High Commissioner Abdul Basit commenced, with Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh telephoning Mr. Basit minutes before his meeting with Mr. Shah.
By the time Mr. Shah emerged from the blue-domed building, following a “very good and comprehensive meeting” with Mr. Basit, the talks stood cancelled.
Mr. Shah, founder-president of the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party, expressed deep disappointment over the development and urged the Government of India to rethink the decision.
“It’s very unfortunate. It seems they were just looking for an excuse to cancel the talks,” Mr. Shah told The Hindu .
Asked about reports hinting that the government had acted under pressure from the BJP, Mr. Shah said the party should remember that the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani had met pro-freedom leaders during the previous NDA regime.
He also lashed out at the Congress for protesting against the meeting.
While the Government of India cited Pakistan’s “continued efforts to interfere in India’s internal affairs” as a reason for the cancellation of talks, Mr. Shah said Kashmir was not India’s internal affair.
“How is this an internal affair … the whole world talks about it … why was [U.S. President] Barack Obama allowed to speak about it when he came to India … EU parliamentarians … U.N. General Secretary Ban Ki-moon … all have come to India and said the Kashmir issue should be resolved … so why were they allowed to come here … why were there no protests?”
