Pakistan’s Kashmir Affairs minister Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo tells KUNAL MAJUMDER the Indo-Pak dialogue should restart
PM Manmohan Singh said India is not afraid of the K-word and will talk to Pakistan. How will Islamabad reciprocate?
It is good news that US President Barack Obama mentioned Kashmir and asked India and Pakistan to resolve the issue. The mere mention of Kashmir during the visit of an American president to India is a big thing. After many years, Kashmir has once again become an international issue. The global community is realising that Kashmir is at a boiling point and could burst into flames anytime. This issue should not be left to destroy the peaceful atmosphere in the subcontinent. Therefore, I think Singh’s statement is a welcome initiative. But talks can only happen when we resume our dialogue. Pakistan is always willing to restart the process.
But Pakistan claims India has stalled the talks.
It was India that stopped the dialogue process after the terrorist attack on Mumbai. There must be a probe and those responsible, both in India and Pakistan, should be punished. We have never tried to stop the process of justice. Pakistan has always raised the issue of resuming talks at every possible forum. The dialogue did resume at the secretary level, but it was unproductive.
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