Seeking to blame India for the "last-minute hitch" in talks, Pakistan today said New Delhi appeared to be unwilling to commit to a roadmap for future engagement and made it clear that the dialogue cannot move forward if Kashmir is not discussed.
"If we focus more only on those issues which India gives importance to and ignore those considered important by Pakistan, then I don't think the talks can move forward," Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told reporters, a day after his meeting with his Indian counterpart S M Krishna.
"Kashmir has been part of our negotiations. It is a disputed territory. It is not not possible to delink Kashmir from the negotiations," he said.
He said it would not make sense to discuss aspects like cultural and trade relations while ignoring "core" issues like Jammu and Kashmir, peace and security and Siachen.
"We understand their concerns and want to address those. But there are concerns of Pakistan which they (India) should address," he said.
Qureshi said there was "no deadlock" but acknowledged that there were "difficulties and problems" that both sides would have to overcome.
"It is the nature of India-Pakistan talks that whenever there is progress, there is always a last minute hitch. There was no hitch from Pakistan's side," he said.
Noting that Krishna had said he was prepared to discuss all issues, Qureshi said: "We wanted that we should have a roadmap for the future at the end of this discussion and they felt they did not have the mandate to commit to a roadmap."
Qureshi contended that India was "narrowing the dialogue" and Pakistan had made it clear that "you cannot be selective in discussions".
The issues between India and Pakistan were already identified and part of the eight segments of the composite dialogue that had continued for four years, he said.
"If they want to confine those issues, it becomes difficult for Pakistan," he said.
