D iplomatic deadlock: K har confirms lack of informal talks with India

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

Hina Rabbani Khar informed the Senate there was currently no backchannel diplomacy occurring between Pakistan and India, maintaining that talks with the neighbouring nation could only take place after New Delhi reversed the August 2019 revocation of the semiautonomous status of occupied Kashmir The statement of the deputy foreign minister follows an invite from India to Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial to attend the foreign ministers’ and chief justices’ meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) scheduled for May Pakistan has not yet responded to the invite

Last week Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had asked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to hold serious and sincere talks to resolve burning issues including Kashmir, and appealed to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) leadership to play an important role in bringing India and Pakistan to the table

During the Senate session Khar said that backchannel diplomacy should only take place when it is result-oriented She pointed out that Pakistan had always taken initiatives to promote peace, but India’s cross-border hostility was of a unique type as highlighted by the BBC documentary on Modi Khar also said that international forums frequently request Pakistan for the normalization of relations with India In response, she emphasized that these requests should be met with consideration of the aggressive messages received from