 "Photo credit: ANI Twitter Handle")
With Pakistan upping the ante by re-inviting India for Foreign Secretary-level talks, Press Club of India (PCI) President Rahul Jalali on Tuesday said this is Islamabad's attempt to pull wool over the eyes of world community.
Jalali said till the time Pakistan does not curb terrorism, it is meaningless to resume talks with the estranged neighbour.
"I don't know what Pakistan is doing. After their initial offer of talks on Kashmir was rejected, they have again raised the ante and invited India for talks. But this is all meaningless what Pakistan is doing , it is just trying to pull wool over the eyes of world community," Jalali told ANI.
"The fact is unless terrorism is curbed even as they invite India for talks on Kashmir they send terrorists in Kashmir and gun down people. So I think unless this question of terrorism is not addressed all this dialogue is meaningless," he added.
Pakistani foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry on Tuesday invited his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar to visit Islamabad for a dialogue on Kashmir, which New Delhi has already rejected outright last week.
According to reports, the invitation letter was handed to High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale, two days after Sartaj Aziz, the foreign affairs adviser to Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharif, said his country has planned to invite the Indian Foreign Secretary for peace talks on Kashmir.
The letter highlighted the international obligation of both the countries to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions, the letter said.
External Affairs Minister last week said fighting the global scourge of terrorism is a central part of India's diplomatic engagements with Pakistan.
"Among the issues that dominate global concerns today is the threat of terrorism," Swaraj said while releasing a book, "The Modi Doctrine: New Paradigms in India's Foreign Policy" here.
She said India is putting a lot of diplomatic energy on an early conclusion of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.
"Equally important, we have made counter-terrorism cooperation a key element in many of our bilateral interactions," she said.
India and Pakistan dispute the ownership of Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan holds the northern third of the state and India the southern two-third.
