Expressing disappointment at the cancellation of proposed foreign secretary level talks with Pakistan, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti today said it is a highly negative development that casts a shadow on the atmosphere of reconciliation generated by the invitation to Nawaz Shareef in swearing in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.In a statement issued here, she said meeting between Pakistan high commissioner and Hurriyat leaders is nothing new and it is a very flimsy ground for shelving bold initiative that was taken by BJP government in resuming diplomatic talks with Pakistan.
Mehbooba said inspite of the realization that there is no alternative to dialogue between two countries, it is beyond comprehension as to what is achieved by such knee jerk reaction to the routine events like the Pakistan high commission invite to separatists which has been a tradition for many years. She said such meetings have taken place during Congress led government and also during the previous NDA government led by Vajpayee. “If this could be tolerated then it makes hardly any sense for them now to be seen as provocative.”Mehbooba said the Indo-Pak relations have become cat and mouse game between BJP and Congress and both try to create hurdles in normalization process when they are in opposition. She said if Sharm-al-Shiekh was sabotaged by BJP, it is now the Congress which has taken it upon itself to subvert the Modi initiative for resumption of talks. “In the process Jammu and Kashmir continues to suffer the hostility between the two countries and the people of the state obviously feel saddened.” (GNS)