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NEW DELHI:
In what appeared to be an articulation of the Modi government's increasingly hardline stance on Kashmir, Indian Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday drew a new line by saying that Pakistan would have to choose between talking to the Indian government or Kashmiri Hurriyat leadership.
Addressing the India Economic Summit being held in New Delhi the defence minister said "I think a new red line has to be drawn in Pakistan to reconsider who they want to speak to. Do they want to speak to the Government of India or do they want to speak to those who want to break India?"
Jaitley, who holds the portfolio of defence and finance added "unless Pakistan makes a conscious choice, a dialogue with Pakistan will not be possible."
In August, India called off the foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan, a day after Pakistan's envoy penciled in meetings with Kashmir's All Parties Hurriyat Conference leaders in New Delhi.
Since then, both sides have also engaged in border skirmishes, killing dozens along the contentious Line of Control between the two nuclear arch rivals.
United Nations
Meanwhile, the latest diplomatic row between the two nuclear armed neighbors played out on the floor of the United Nations General Assembly when Pakistan's delegate to the Third Committee called for a settlement of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with UN resolutions.
"It is regrettable that decades after the adoption of these resolutions, the people of Jammu and Kashmir remain deprived of their fundamental right to self-determination," said Pakistan delegate Diyar Khan.
"They continue to face widespread repression and human rights violations, which have been documented by independent international human rights organizations," he added.
Regurgitating his govern-ment?s stance, the Indian delegate said that Jammu and Kashmir was an "integral" part of India and that free, fair and open elections were regularly held in that territory at all levels.
The Pakistani delegate rejected Indian arguments and said Kashmir was an internationally recognized disputed territory — well established by the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 6th, 2014.
Red Line: Choose between India and Hurriyat, says Jaitley – The Express Tribune
In what appeared to be an articulation of the Modi government's increasingly hardline stance on Kashmir, Indian Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday drew a new line by saying that Pakistan would have to choose between talking to the Indian government or Kashmiri Hurriyat leadership.
Addressing the India Economic Summit being held in New Delhi the defence minister said "I think a new red line has to be drawn in Pakistan to reconsider who they want to speak to. Do they want to speak to the Government of India or do they want to speak to those who want to break India?"
Jaitley, who holds the portfolio of defence and finance added "unless Pakistan makes a conscious choice, a dialogue with Pakistan will not be possible."
In August, India called off the foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan, a day after Pakistan's envoy penciled in meetings with Kashmir's All Parties Hurriyat Conference leaders in New Delhi.
Since then, both sides have also engaged in border skirmishes, killing dozens along the contentious Line of Control between the two nuclear arch rivals.
United Nations
Meanwhile, the latest diplomatic row between the two nuclear armed neighbors played out on the floor of the United Nations General Assembly when Pakistan's delegate to the Third Committee called for a settlement of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with UN resolutions.
"It is regrettable that decades after the adoption of these resolutions, the people of Jammu and Kashmir remain deprived of their fundamental right to self-determination," said Pakistan delegate Diyar Khan.
"They continue to face widespread repression and human rights violations, which have been documented by independent international human rights organizations," he added.
Regurgitating his govern-ment?s stance, the Indian delegate said that Jammu and Kashmir was an "integral" part of India and that free, fair and open elections were regularly held in that territory at all levels.
The Pakistani delegate rejected Indian arguments and said Kashmir was an internationally recognized disputed territory — well established by the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 6th, 2014.
Red Line: Choose between India and Hurriyat, says Jaitley – The Express Tribune
