Dubbing the meeting of Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit as a 'diplomatic faux pas', former Pakistan ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani on Friday said that there was no need to take any action that gave the Indian side cause for concern.
"At that particular moment when talks were scheduled, there was no need to take any action that gave the Indian side cause for concern. The talks were more important at that moment than the optics of meeting Kashmiri leaders," Haqqani told ANI.
"India and Pakistan need a level of maturity in realizing what may cause discomfort to the other side. So, if Pakistan takes a step it should bear in mind how that step will be perceived by Indians, and similarly when India takes a step it should also think about how it will be perceived by Pakistan. It was ill-advised to engage so publicly in hosting and engaging with groups from Kashmir that newly elected Indian Govt did not look upon positively. It was a diplomatic faux pas," he added.
The former envoy also said that the attack in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir should not only be condemned by Pakistan, but Islamabad should extend cooperation to India in finding out which groups based in the Islamic Republic are behind it.
"Only then, can the confidence be built which will enable India and Pakistan to move forward in a comprehensive dialogue," he said.
"Pakistan's government continues to say that it is trying to eliminate terror and efforts have been started but they are not enough. Pakistan needs to essentially make clear to the world and to India that no jihadi group will have any safe haven in Pakistan anymore. The acceptance and tolerance towards jihadi groups over the past has really harmed Pakistan more than any other country in the region," he added.
Haqqani also said that India and Pakistan will continue to talk in a sporadic manner and there will be occasions when India will call off talks, because of terrorist actions and Pakistan will occasionally back away from talks due to India's comments.
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"The fundamental change needed, is the change in attitude. Pakistan must change its attitude towards India. Pakistan must stop looking at India as an existential threat and permanent enemy, India also should stop looking at Pakistan through the prism of partition," he added.
On March 9, Geelani and Basit held a meeting in New Delhi, where they had reportedly discussed political developments in Jammu and Kashmir, with the Pakistani envoy also appraising the separatist leader of Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar's visit to Islamabad.