Pakistan calls off peace talks with India unilaterally; MEA reminds Pak that JIT visit was on a reciprocal basis

Pakistan on Thursday suspended the peace talks with India, with its high commissioner in New Delhi, Abdul Basit, saying that Jammu and Kashmir was the root cause of mutual distrust and attempts to put it on the back- burner would be counterproductive.

The move comes a day after foreign secretary S Jaishankar mentioned that India has succeeded in keeping the focus firmly on the central issue of terrorism in its relationship with Pakistan.

Basit even ruled out the possibility of allowing the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to visit Pakistan to reciprocate India's gesture of allowing their Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to travel to Pathankot to carry forward the investigations.

"It was more about extending cooperation in investigations, rather reciprocity. It is not a question of reciprocity..You can draw inference from my statement," said Basit.

Ministry of external affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup said that the JIT visit was on a reciprocal basis.

"The work of JIT in India was as per the terms of reference which were agreed between the two governments through their respective foreign offices. They are on a reciprocal basis and in accordance with the existing legal provisions," Swarup added.

On Thursday, while inaugurating the American think tank Carnegie's India office, foreign secretary Jaishankar discussed the problems in relations with Pakistan, while counting successes in neighbourhood diplomacy.

"Pakistan, of course, is in a category by itself. But given the challenges of that relationship, we have fared well in keeping the focus firmly on the central issue of terrorism....we also look beyond to a more normal relationship, featuring the economic cooperation and people-to-people ties," he said.

Though there was no official word from the MEA, an official referred to the statement by DG, NIA, on April 1, soon after the conclusion of the visit of the Pakistan JIT. The statement, prepared in full concurrence with the Pakistani team, said that interactions were held in accordance with terms of reference mutually agreed on the basis of reciprocity.

"The Pakistan JIT assured us their full cooperation and promised to execute the LR which has been received by them. The Pakistan JIT was informed that a team of NIA officials would like to visit Pakistan to carry forward the investigation in the Pathankot attack," it added.

Earlier, while addressing media at the Foreign Correspondents Club, Basit said there were no short-cuts to achieving a lasting peace, nor does cherry-picking work, making a case for engaging uninterruptedly, comprehensively and meaningfully.

He also mentioned that the recent arrest of retired Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadav corroborated Pakistan's allegations of external forces creating unrest and destability. He also revealed that Pakistani authorties have arrested scores of terror operatives with foreign linkages.

Referring to India's thrust of building a regional cooperative structure, Basit said it cannot be built on unpredictable bilateral relations. "We need to move on all fronts simultaneously, if we are to benefit from the opportunities unleashed by globalisation," he said.

Pakistan is hosting the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in November. PM Modi is also looking to visit Islamabad to attend the meeting of grouping.

On the issue of dangers of nuclear weapons, he said that Pakistan had offered a mechanism of strategic restraint regime, that needs to be put on the table to prevent an arms race in the region. He also rejected any impression about Pakistani nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists, saying they were fully in safe hands.

He supported the Chinese viewpoint to block India's plea to ban Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar. "I subscribe to Chinese viewpoint," the envoy said.

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj is also expected to raise the issue of China's veto with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. Swaraj will be meeting Wang on the sidelines of a trilateral in Moscow on April 18.