Aziz says no India talks without Kashmir on agenda

• PM’s adviser says if New Delhi makes conditions that are unrealistic, it will require more time and more effort to hold dialogue

Pakistan has resolved that peace talks with India cannot take place without addressing the long-running dispute over Kashmir, calling alleged Indian attempts to sideline the issue “unrealistic”.

Pakistani National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz has said that Islamabad offered talks to New Delhi in “good faith” but holding a dialogue without addressing the Kashmir issue was “unacceptable” to Pakistan.

“If they make conditions that are unrealistic, then of course it will require more time and more effort to hold dialogue. All we are doing is appealing to the international community that dialogue between India and Pakistan is necessary for peace in the region, and therefore they should take notice and share our disappointment that these talks have been suspended on very flimsy grounds,” Aziz said, adding that Pakistani officials had met leaders from the Indian occupied Kashmir in the past as well and New Delhi had not objected, until now.

Tensions in the region have been rising since last week when New Delhi abruptly called off the long-awaited meeting with Islamabad as military clashes along the Himalayan region’s Line of Control (LoC) continued. Recent heavy military clashes in the area have killed civilians on both sides.

According to officials, top Pakistani and Indian army commanders mutually agreed to defuse tensions during a call on their telephone “hotline” Tuesday.

Each side has accused the other of starting the conflict in violation of Kashmir’s decade-long ceasefire accord, which has largely held.

Indian and Pakistani foreign secretaries were scheduled to meet this week in Islamabad, but New Delhi cancelled after Pakistan’s ambassador to India met with leaders from Indian controlled Kashmir. Some officials say the move has been perceived as a signal of the hardening of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stance on disputes with Pakistan.