India has sent feelers for talks: Pakistan

 • In an interview with Karan Thapar, PM’s aide says prime minister and military chief desire peace with India

• Islamabad wants dialogue on both Kashmir and terrorism

NEW DELHI: India has sent messages to Pakistan over the past year expressing a desire for conversation, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s adviser on national security and strategic policy planning Moeed Yusuf told The Wire during a TV interview with the Indian news portal on Tuesday. However, Pakistan would really like to assess India’s intent, lest it uses a future dialogue to inform the planet that each one is well between the 2 and, implicitly, with Kashmir.

“In the past year we've got messages for a desire to conversation,” Mr Yusuf said. “But why is there a desire, in my reading? to speak , to urge somewhere”.

He said Pakistan wouldn't want India to use it merely to mention to the planet that all’s settled and everything is agreed. “There has got to be an enabling environment to speak .”

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Mr Yusuf urged India to reverse its recent unilateral measures in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. “Not for my sake except for your own reason, reverse the military siege in Kashmir. Pull back from the domicile laws. and that i say for your own sake, end the open jail. India will need to reverse this, as Kashmir implodes. It’s better, however, roll in the hay in ways more sensible,” Mr Yusuf said, adding that no-one in Pakistan wants to impose a war.

Mr Yusuf was chatting with Karan Thapar during a rare cross-border interview, the primary since India’s moves in August last year to annul Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. He didn’t say who had sent the message to who and thru who.

However, he insisted that Kashmiris must be a 3rd party at these talks — usually a non-starter for the Indian side. He also made it clear that Pakistan is willing to debate terror, a suggestion agreed between former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former president Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad in 2004. Pakistan, however, now sees the discussion on terror from its own prism, accusing India of fomenting terror in Pakistan.

Mr Thapar described the wide ranging interview as quarrelsome and aggressive and even, at times, no holds barred. Mr Yusuf thought it had been a candid discussion.

However, looking to the longer term ties with India, Mr Yusuf said: “We must sit down like adults.”

He said there are two issues, Kashmir and terror, and added that “I want to speak about both”. He said Pakistan “stands for peace and that we want to maneuver forward”. He said Pakistan’s prime minister and its army chief desired peace with India, and singled out aggressive statements from Indian counterparts as foiling the search .

“Pakistan is that the melting of all economic interests. It’s not up for selecting sides. Much has been made from CPEC and China. But if the US wants to take a position , they’re welcome. If the united kingdom wants to take a position , they’re welcome too.”

He said Pakistan is trying to find peace within the region. “We want peace in Afghanistan for connectivity with Central Asia. Connectivity with China adds 60 billion to our economy, an enormous source of employment,” Mr Yusuf said, adding that within the east-west trajectory, India was an obstacle.

“We got to think strategically. we'd like to take a seat down like adults. There are two issues, and that we both know that— Kashmir and terrorism. i would like to speak about both,” he added.

Mr Thapar asked Mr Yusuf how could there be talks between the 2 premiers as Prime Minister Khan called his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi a Nazi dictator.

Mr Yusuf said the talks are held between states.

Speaking about the Mumbai 2008 terror attack and Pakistan’s failure to bring the accused to justice, Mr Yusuf squarely blamed India. He said India is “deliberately delaying sending evidence and witnesses” because it wants to stay the difficulty alive and use it to run down Pakistan ahead of the planet .

Mr Yusuf accused India of inflicting terror on Pakistan. First, he claimed that in 2019, the Indian embassy in Kabul had given $1 million to the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan to assist the TTP merge with four militant groups.

He also claimed that the handler of the 2014 surprise attack on a military school in Peshawar was in-tuned with “an Indian consulate” (but he didn't say which). He said Pakistan has the telephone number of the handler’s contact. “We have evidence,” he added.