Pakistan’s National Security Advisor Dr Moeed Yusuf has said that backdoor contacts with India to resume the long-standing talks have been abandoned as New Delhi has failed to reverse the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, The Express Tribune reported.
He said New Delhi failed to take any confidence-building measures, mainly the reversal of its August 2019 move on Jammu and Kashmir.
While giving an interview to a private channel in Pakistan, Yusuf said “it’s over now”.
However, he did admit that it was India that approached Pakistan to continue resumption talks.
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"It was India that approached us. They said they wanted to talk on all disputed issues, including on Kashmir," he said without specifying the time period and location of the contact.
"We clearly conveyed them our demand i.e. reversal of Aug. 2019 move, for resumption of talks," he went on to say.
On August 5, 2019, the Indian government revoked Article 370 and other related provisions from its constitution. New Delhi’s decision to scrap Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir made Pakistan upset. India further divided Jammu and Kashmir into two separate Union Territories, making it easy to govern the two zones which are highly susceptible to terrorist attacks.
Seeking a suitable reply, Islamabad in turn, decided to suspend trade ties and downgrade diplomatic relations with New Delhi.
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"Since they haven't done anything in this regard, so it's over now," Yusuf said, foreseeing "no change" in India's stance on the August 2019 move. Yusuf then commented on the recent political developments in Jammu and Kashmir after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met pro-Indian Kashmiri politicians. Yusuf said New Delhi has failed to convince even its own allies over the controversial Kashmir move.
"They [politicians] too openly demanded the revocation of the August 2019 step and asked Prime Minister Modi to talk to Pakistan," he contended.
In March, the two militaries agreed to honour the 2003 ceasefire along the LoC, followed by an exchange of letters between the two premiers, which was widely viewed as an outcome of the reported backdoor diplomacy.
