New Delhi (NVI): The Ministry of External Affairs today denied the claims by Pakistan PM’s National Security Advisor that India had reached out to Islamabad to resume dialogue between the two countries in the wake of strained relations.
In an interview to an Indian media outlet, Moeed Yusuf, NSA to Pakistan PM Imran, had claimed that New Delhi had sent a message to Pakistan with “a desire for conversation” but refused to give details.
Yusuf made the remarks in an interview with journalist Karan Thapar for The Wire news portal. This was the first interview by a Pakistani official to Indian media since the revocation of Article 370 in J&K and its bifurcation into two union territories on August 5 last year.
In the weekly media briefing today, MEA spokesman Anurag Srivastava said “no such message was sent from our side”.
“He (Moeed) has commented on India’s internal matters. As always, this is Pakistan’s effort to divert attention from domestic failures of the present government and mislead its domestic constituents by pulling India into headlines on a daily basis,” Srivastava said.
“The Official is well advised to restrict his advise to his establishment and not to comment on India’s domestic policy. The statements made by him are contrary to facts on the ground, misleading and fictitious,” he added.
The MEA spokesman said that Pakistan continues to support, aid and abet cross-border terrorism against India and has also been resorting to unprovoked ceasefire violations to support terrorist infiltration.
“The Pakistani leadership continues to indulge in inappropriate, provocative and hate speech against India. Such support to terrorism against India and use of derogatory and abusive language are not conducive to normal neighbourly relations,” Srivastava said.
-ARK
