India is presuming Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar’s guilt by seeking a ban on him, Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz told Hindustan Times in an exclusive interview.
“We follow a principled position on this. The Security Council’s system is meant for Al-Qaeda and related organisations, but India is trying to use the forum to point fingers at Pakistan vis-a-vis terrorist groups and individuals,” Aziz said, when asked why Pakistan took China’s help to block the move.
“India alleges that the terrorist groups and individuals are sponsored by our intelligence Investigation Agencies, and that the Indian government is presuming Masood Azhar’s guilt. You mentioned agencies in the resolution. India’s National Investigation Agency has also said Pakistan’s agencies are not involved in Pathankot,” Sartaj Aziz said.
Ties between India and Pakistan have been on a downswing after the Pathankot attack in which seven soldiers and four Pakistan-based terrorists were killed.
Aziz acknowledges this. “As far as Pakistan is concerned, friendly relations with all our neighbours remain our cornerstone but there are obstacles. The lack of trust is the most obvious obstacle and the only way forward in overcoming the trust deficit is dialogue,” he said.
India and Pakistan had agreed to resume the comprehensive dialogue after meetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his counterpart Nawaz Sharif and between the national security advisers. But the Pathankot attack has led to a deadlock on talks between both the countries.
India has sought strong and effective action against the JeM, while Pakistan says that it wants the dialogue process to continue.
“Using the issue of terrorism as an excuse for not negotiating cannot be justified,” Aziz said. “We have had good cooperation on Pathankot and even sent a team to India. India is not right in blaming us for not doing enough. It is for India to decide whether they want to break the logjam or not. We don’t deny the need for a discussion on terrorism and it is one of the eight topics under the comprehensive dialogue.”, he said.
Foreign secretaries of the two nations were scheduled to resume talks in mid-January, but the meeting was postponed after the Pathankot attack.
Modi and Sharif continue to stay in touch and also spoke to each other over the phone but the two countries have made little headway in having a structured dialogue.
Modi has accepted an invitation by his Pakistani counterpart to participate in the SAARC summit that Islamabad will host in November.
Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Sartaj Aziz offered a solution. The resumption of dialogue will provide the opportunity to discuss all issues so that Prime Minister Modi’s visit can provide the basis for further talks, he said.
Pakistan should secure its border with Afghanistan and Iran because India can provide nuclear material to terrorists and terrorists can use that nuclear material on Pakistan or in Pakistan….Pakistan should also purchase some new aircrafts to neutralize threat immediately.
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