New Delhi, August 5: India will go ahead with the NSA-level talks with Pakistan notwithstanding the terror strike in Jammu and Kashmir Wednesday in which a suspected Pakistani terrorist was caught alive. “We are still awaiting a response from Islamabad to our proposal to hold the talks between the two NSAs August 23-24 here,” official sources said.
The recent terror attack in Gurdaspur and Wednesday’s incident in Udhampur had triggered speculation that India may call off the upcoming parleys. Being the host country, India had proposed the dates for the talks between national security advisor Ajit Doval and Pakistan Prime Minister’s adviser on national security and foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz later this month.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in a meeting on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Russian city of Ufa last month had decided to break the deadlock and agreed for a meeting between their NSAs besides some other steps to take forward the relationship.
Even as India awaited a response from Islamabad, militants attacked a BSF convoy on Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Udhampur killing two men of the border guarding force and injuring 11 personnel. The terrorist identified as Naved, who had escaped from the encounter site and taken three persons hostage in a school building in a nearby hamlet, was later arrested.
Ahead of NSA-level talks between India and Pakistan, Congress Wednesday charged the NDA government with being “soft” on terror and reminded Prime Minister Narendra Modi of his assertion as an Opposition leader that talks should not be held with Islamabad in the shadow of gunshots. Congress chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala said signals continue to come forth that the Modi government is “soft” on terror as 11 ceasefire violations have taken place in the first five days of this month and the country has witnessed two blatant terror attacks in the past 10 days. PTI
