Daily Times

Contradicting earlier claims of Pakistan’s newly appointed Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, India on Monday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not called for a dialogue in a congratulatory letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“Modi didn’t express his wish for a dialogue in letter to Pakistan PM, but it did mention that India was committed to peaceful ties,” India Today and other Indian websites quoted “credible government sources” as saying. According to TimesNow, “PM Modi congratulated Imran on smooth transition, but did not push for a dialogue between the two countries.”

“The letter talked about shared belief to bring peace and prosperity in the subcontinent and make it free from terrorism and violence.” It further quoted PM Modi as saying: “We have a commitment to build good neighbourly relations and pursue meaningful and constructive engagement for the benefit of people in the region.”

Earlier, Qureshi said there was a need for continued and uninterrupted talks with India. “We are neighbours. We have long-standing issues… both of us know these problems. But we have no other option but to engage in dialogue. We cannot afford adventurism.”

“These issues are complicated and we may face hurdles in resolving them, but we must engage. We will have to admit that we are facing problems, we must admit that Kashmir is a reality,” he added.

Published in Daily Times, August 21^st 2018.