Onus to restart peace talks on India, says Pakistan FM Bilawal Bhutto Zardari

Raking up India’s decision to abrogate Article 370 revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan's foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that it is New Delhi's call to restart peace talks.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad after his return from Goa where he attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) meeting, Bhutto Zardari said that Pakistan was clear that India should create a conducive environment for talks by restoring the pre-August 5, 2019 status of Kashmir.

The Pakistani minister said revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir still remains an unresolved issuebetween the two nations.

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Pakistan claims tensions have been simmering since New Delhi abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution on August 5, 2019 and had downgraded diplomatic ties in a reaction to India's decision. On the other hand, India told the international community that the decision to repeal Article 370 is an internal matter of the country.

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It also urged Pakistan to cease spreading false information against India and to accept the truth. India has expressed its wish forneighbourly ties with Islamabad but only in an atmosphere that is devoid of terrorism.

India held a foreign ministers' meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on 5 May in Goa which saw the participation of the Pakistani minister as well.

The meeting laid out the groundwork for the upcoming SCO Summit in July in New Delhi. During a press briefing after the SCO summit, India's External Affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar made comments over Bhutto Zardari's mention of India's constitutional changes to reverse the semi-autonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir with abrogation of Article 370.

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Jaishankar said, "I would like to use the phrase “Wake up and smell the coffee”, similarly 370 is history sooner people realise it's better."

Jaishankar, during the meeting, called out Pakistan's state-sponsored terrorism, "The victims of terrorism do not sit down with perpetrators of terrorism to talk about terrorism."

"On terrorism, Pakistan's credibility is depleting faster than their forex reserves," Jaishankar said. "There is only one issue to discuss on Kashmir which is when will Pakistan give back Pakistan Occupied Kashmir," he added.

Bilawal Zardari returned from India on a special Pakistan Air Force plane and landed in Karachi where he was received by Sindh chief minister, Murad Ali Shah, and other cabinet members.

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