Islamabad: Days after Pakistan called off NSA-level talks, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said that any dialogue process with India which does not include Kashmir issue will be futile and asserted that Kashmiri separatist leaders are not a third party.
“Kashmiri leaders are not the third party but an important party to this issue. Any decision on their future cannot be made without their opinion and consultation,” Sharif was quoted saying during a cabinet meeting on Monday.
The prime minister told the cabinet that any dialogue with India without Kashmir issue would be futile, Pakistani media reported.
Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz briefed Sharif and cabinet colleagues over the cancellation of talks.
Aziz was scheduled to travel to India on August 23 for the first-ever NSA-level talks with his counterpart Ajit Doval but Pakistan called off the National Security Advisers-level talks at last minute after India asked it to give a commitment that it would not meet Kashmiri separatist leaders.