Pakistan says peace talks suspended

It’s déjà vu all over again with Pakistan calling off the peace process with India. Pakistan’s envoy to India Abdul Basit has said that the dialogue with India is suspended and will most likely not give the National Investigative Agency (NIA) access to probe JeM chief Masood Azhar in the Pathankot attacks. This latest development comes a few days after Pakistan’s Joint Investigation Team had visited India to probe the Pathankot attacks.

The assault on the Pathankot airbase was masterminded by Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammed. The Pathankot attacks had stalled the peace process between the two countries and the latest development following Mr Basit’s remarks has resulted in a new low in the diplomatic ties between both the countries. The recent arrest of the alleged RAW agent Kulbhushan Jadhav in Balochistan triggered a row between the two sides.

The recent decision by China to block India’s move at the UN to designate Azhar as a terrorist has fuelled tensions between India and Pakistan. “I would say the dialogue is suspended,” Mr Basit said. He was responding to a question on the status of the comprehensive bilateral dialogue announced by India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Pakistan’s foreign policy chief Sartaj Aziz.

(Sridhar Ramaswamy contributed inputs for this article)

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