India’s stubbornness coming in way of talks, says Pakistan

Close on the heels of the meeting between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan in New York, a Pakistani foreign office spokesperson has said that the Indian inflexibility on the issue of Kashmir was the main hurdle in the normalisation of ties.

Speaking at a news conference in Islamabad, foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit said that though foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Indian external affairs minister SM Krishna were set to hold a formal meeting in New York, a breakthrough was unlikely keeping in view the stubbornness of the Indian government with regard to the Kashmir issue.

Krishna and Qureshi are participating in the UN General Assembly’s annual debate. To a question Basit said the date and time for a formal meeting, about which speculations have been made both in Islamabad and New Delhi, have yet to be agreed upon, but the meeting is most likely to take place on Monday. 

Krishna has indicated New Delhi’s willingness to discuss all outstanding issues with Pakistan, including Kashmir. “Well, I was in Islamabad and we did talk and I have invited his excellency Qureshi to come to India and he has very graciously accepted my invitation,” Krishna was quoted as saying.  “I am looking forward to hosting him in Delhi….”