Pak High Commissioner- Hurriyat meeting, ill timed, could have been avoided- Sartaz Aziz

Pak High Commissioner- Hurriyat meeting, ill timed, could have been avoided- Sartaz Aziz

Advisor to the Pakistan Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz on Saturday regretted the meeting of Pakistan High Commissioner with the Hurriyat leaders in New Delhi ahead of India-Pak Secretary level talks last month.   

In an exclusive interaction with Headlines Today on the sidelines of UNGA meeting, Aziz said the meeting with Kashmiri extremist leaders was ill-timed.

"The timing of the meeting between Pakistan High Commissioner to India and the Hurriyat leaders was not right and it could have been avoided. The newly-elected leaders of both the countries missed an opportunity of starting a dialogue."

However, he insisted that Pakistan can't ignore Hurriyat.

"The talks should not have been cancelled as the issue was not that big. Kashmiri leaders have been meeting us as the Kashmir is one of the issues, which is to be discussed. Dialogues with Hurriyat leaders has been a regular practise since last 20-30 years."

He further added that, "We are upset after India cancelled the talks. Talks are the only way forward for us. Now, the ball is in India's court to come up with a date."

Praises Modi's for his UNGA speech

Aziz praised Modi for his 'positive' speech at UN General Assembly.

"What I find very positive is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at UNGA in which he said I want to improve relations with our neighbours including Pakistan," said Aziz.
Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/sartaz-aziz-pakistan-high-commissioner-hurriyat-meeting-ill-timed-narendra-modi-speech-unga/1/393121.html