Sartaj Aziz in a hurriedly called press conference after returning to Pakistan explained his version of what transpired in Heart of Asia conference.
Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz on Sunday said he "exchanged pleasantries" with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and NSA Ajit Doval in Amritsar, hours after India said there was no Indo-Pak bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia meet.
Aziz addressed a hurriedly called press conference here soon after his return from India. He did not give any details of his interaction with top Indian leaders but said that no breakthrough was achieved.
"I met and exchanged pleasantries with Prime Minister Modi, Arun Jaitley and Ajit Doval and others on the sidelines," Aziz said. "We had no expectation of breakthrough. Who had such an expectation from the conference? At least, I had no such expectation," Aziz asserted.
While Indian sources said Aziz and Doval "had a stroll for about 100 feet" at the venue of the dinner 'Sada Pind', a heritage village, Pakistani officials maintained that they had a "meeting". However, it is not known what transpired during their conversation. When asked, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, "There was no meeting". Aziz, after returning to Pakistan, said his country was ready for talks with India to discuss all issues including Kashmir and rejected the notion that Kashmir was not a problem
"Kashmir is a reality. If it is not a problem then why they are keeping 700,000 troops there? Why Kashmir was shut down for over four months?" he said. Aziz also accused India of not treating the Pakistani media properly at the Heart of Asia meeting and said he was not allowed to have a press conference. "The attitude towards media was not good. I wanted to have press interaction with our own media. But we were not allowed," he alleged.
Aziz also criticised Afghan president Ashraf Ghani for remarks against of Pakistan at the conference.
"Ashraf Ghani's statement is regrettable. It shows anxiety in Kabul and is understandable due to deteriorating law and order situation," he said. Afghan President Ghani directly blamed Pakistan for "launching an undeclared war" against his country and demanded an Asian or international regime to verify Pakistan- sponsored terror operations. Aziz, who also met Ghani, said the Afghan leader had a different idea about USD 500 million assistance pledged by Pakistan and proposed a trilateral commission with China to utilise the amount for welfare of Afghanistan.
He said Pakistan had reassured Ghani that its territory will not be used against Kabul. "I reassured Ghani that we will not allow out territory to be used against Afghanistan. But also emphasised better border management," said Aziz. Aziz asserted that Ghani said what India wanted to hear. "But our ties with Afghanistan are independent and we need to cooperate on several issues," Aziz said. He claimed that India was trying to use Afghanistan for its own advantage "but it will not succeed". "Indian efforts will not succeed to spoil Pakistan ties with Afghanistan, as our ties are religious and cultural. That is why we want that terrorism should end in Afghanistan," he said
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