Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday said India should create an “enabling environment” for result-oriented engagement for resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute as it rejected remarks made by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar about cross border infiltration in Kashmir.
Jaishankar is currently on an official visit to the US.
During a conversation with former US National Security Advisor General HR McMaster in New York on Wednesday, Jaishankar, while responding to a question on Pakistan, said, “Look what I can tell you at this point of time, is that we had an agreement some weeks ago between our Director General of Military Operations that we would not fire across at each other, across the Line of Control, which has seen a lot of that. And it’s seen a lot of that, mainly because there’s been infiltration from their side.
“So, the basis for not firing is very clear because the reason for firing is infiltration so if there is no infiltration there’s obviously no reason to fire. That’s a good step. But I think there are obviously bigger issues,” he said during the conversation in Battlegrounds’ session on ‘India: Opportunities And Challenges For A Strategic Partnership’ presented by the Hoover Institution.
Responding to media queries on the comments made by Jaishankar, the Foreign Office in a statement on Thursday said it categorically rejects the allegations of any cross-border infiltration”.
The peace and security in the region was threatened due to India’s “refusal to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the United Nations Security Council Resolutions , the statement said.
The Foreign Office said since 1947, the Jammu and Kashmir dispute continues to be the core outstanding issue between Pakistan and India, awaiting settlement.
Indo-Pak relations deteriorated after India announced withdrawing special powers of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcation of the state into two union territories in August 2019.
