No place for a third party intervention: Indian spokesman

NEW DELHI: Realizing the repercussions of its unprovoked firing along the LoC and working boundary, India on Tuesday said that it was willing for a “serious dialogue” with Pakistan on all outstanding issues including Kashmir but alleged that Islamabad was not interested in talks and was using “diversionary tactics” by complaining to the United Nations.

It also demanded that Pakistan must take immediate steps to restore peace and tranquility along the International Border and Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir and end its sponsorship of terrorism against it.

Reiterating the country’s stand that only Shimla Agreement and Lahore Declaration provided the framework to resolve all the issues between India and Pakistan, Indian External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said there was no place for a third party intervention.

“We are willing for a serious dialogue in this (Shimla Agreement and Lahore Declaration) framework and this dialogue will cover all outstanding issues including issues of Jammu and Kashmir. It seems, from what Pakistan is doing it is not interested in this sort of a dialogue.

“The sending of a letter to the UN SG by Pakistan is a well-known tactic and it has not worked earlier it will not work now, he claimed. The road to a peaceful and cooperative relationship between India and Pakistan runs from Islamabad via Lahore to New Delhi. If you divert that road through New York or elsewhere, it will not serve any purpose and will be diversionary tactics,” he said.

He was asked about the letter to Ban Ki-moon by Adviser to the PM Nawaz Shrif on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz accusing India of “deliberate and unprovoked violations of the ceasefire agreement and cross-border firing” and seeking UN’s intervention in this matter. INP