Pakistan rejects 'advice'

Pakistan on Friday turned down Indian government's "advice" to call off a scheduled meeting of Adviser to Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz with Hurriyat leaders. "Responding to the 'advice' of Government of India, conveyed by their High Commissioner that Sartaj Aziz may not meet the Hurriyat leaders during his forthcoming visit to India, the Foreign Secretary conveyed to the Indian High Commissioner that it would not be possible for Pakistan to accept this advice," Foreign Office said in a statement.
Pakistan's High Commissioner in New Delhi had invited Hurriyat leaders on a reception to be hosted for Sartaj Aziz at the High Commission ahead of his crucial meeting with his Indian counterpart on Sunday. "Kashmir is a disputed territory as per the UN Security Council resolutions which remain unimplemented. Pakistani leadership has always interacted with the Kashmir/Hurriyat leadership, during their visits to India. Pakistan sees no reason to depart from this established past practice," the statement said, adding Hurriyat leaders are true representatives of the Kashmiri people of the Indian occupied Kashmir.
It stated that Pakistan regards Kashmir people as genuine stakeholders in the efforts to find a lasting solution of the Kashmir dispute. "Pakistan has proposed and conveyed to India a comprehensive agenda reflecting the broad understanding reached between the leaders in Ufa, that all outstanding issues, including Kashmir and other disputes, as well as, terrorism issues and other CBMs will be discussed between the two countries," the Foreign Office further stated.
"India's insistence to introduce conditionalities and restrict the agenda for the dialogue, demonstrates a lack of seriousness on India's part to meaningfully engage with Pakistan," it added. For its part, the Foreign Office said that Pakistan remains willing to attend the NSA's meeting without any pre-conditions. The statement was followed by conflicting reports by Indian media which reported that India called off the NSAs level talks but later maintained that the dialogue has become "unlikely". However, Foreign Office spokesperson Qazi Khalilullah declined to comment on the 'media reports' about India's reported decision to call off the talks, saying the Indian government has not yet officially conveyed about the cancellation of the dialogue.
Earlier in the day, sources said that a meeting held at Foreign Office decided that Pakistan is committed to a meaningful dialogue process on all outstanding issues including the Kashmir dispute without any compromise on Pakistan's stated stance on the issue of Kashmir. Pakistan insisted on Thursday that consultations with Hurriyat leaders were a "routine matter" and a "long standing practice" as well all issues including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute will be discussed during NSAs level talks. India unilaterally cancelled foreign secretary level talks last year when Pakistan's High Commissioner to New Delhi Abdul Basit met with Hurriyat leaders for consultations.