India selective in its approach, says Pakistan

From Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, July 16 (PTI) Seeking to blame India for
the "last-minute hitch" in talks, Pakistan Friday 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 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. (MORE) PTI