Exclusive conversation with Dr Muhammad Faisal, Pakistan MoFA Spokesperson

The opening of the Kartarpur border crossing for Sikh pilgrims will remain pending if there are no talks between India and Pakistan, the Foreign Office said Thursday, asserting that dialogue is the only way forward to resolve issues and disputes between the two countries.

Foreign Office spokesperson Muhammad Faisal told reporters that Pakistan "could only try" to co-exist peacefully with its neighbour.

Responding to a question about opening of the Kartarpur Corridor for Sikh pilgrims, Faisal said nothing can happen if there are no talks between the two countries. He, however, reiterated Pakistan's stance to hold talks with India to resolve all outstanding issues, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

Kartarpur is situated in Narowal district of Pakistan's Punjab province, close to Indo-Pak border. It was established by the first Sikh Guru in 1522. The first Gurdwara, Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, was built here, where Guru Nanak Dev is said to have died.&nbsp;

Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan is located across the river Ravi, about four kilometres from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Punjab's Gurdaspur district.

Indian cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, who had attended Imran Khan's swearing in ceremony in Islamabad in August, has said that Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa hinted at opening of the route to Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

The 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev is being observed in November 2019.

The ties between the two countries had strained after the terror attacks by Pakistan-based groups in 2016 and India's surgical strikes inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.&nbsp;

Last month, India called off a meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries in New York, citing the brutal killings of three policemen in Jammu and Kashmir and Islamabad releasing postage stamps "glorifying" Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani.

On SAARC conference, Faisal said Pakistan held talks with all South Asian countries, on the sidelines of UN General Assembly meeting in New York, and they all were very positive to come to Islamabad for the summit.&nbsp;

However, he claimed that India is creating hurdles.

SAARC Summits are usually held biennially, hosted by a member state in alphabetical order. The last SAARC Summit in 2014 was held in Kathmandu.

The 2016 SAARC Summit was to be held in Islamabad but after a major terror attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18 that year, India expressed its inability to participate in the summit due to "prevailing circumstances" and stepped up diplomatic pressure on Pakistan. The summit was called off after Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to participate.

Faisal also said Pakistan is raising the issue of water and what it called the controversial projects initiated by India such as Kishanganga and Ratle, at all forums.&nbsp;

The opening of the Kartarpur border crossing for Sikh pilgrims will remain pending if there are no talks between India and Pakistan, the Foreign Office said Thursday, asserting that dialogue is the only way forward to resolve issues and disputes between the two countries.

The opening of the Kartarpur border crossing for Sikh pilgrims will remain pending if there are no talks between India and Pakistan, the Foreign Office said Thursday, asserting that dialogue is the only way forward to resolve issues and disputes between the two countries. Foreign Office spokesperson Muhammad Faisal told reporters that Pakistan "could only try" to co-exist peacefully with its neighbour. Responding to a question about opening of the Kartarpur Corridor for Sikh pilgrims, Faisal said nothing can happen if there are no talks between the two countries. He, however, reiterated Pakistan's stance to hold talks with India to resolve all outstanding issues, state-run Radio Pakistan reported. Kartarpur is situated in Narowal district of Pakistan's Punjab province, close to Indo-Pak border. It was established by the first Sikh Guru in 1522. The first Gurdwara, Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, was built here, where Guru Nanak Dev is said to have died. Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan is located across the river Ravi, about four kilometres from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Punjab's Gurdaspur district. Indian cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, who had attended Imran Khan's swearing in ceremony in Islamabad in August, has said that Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa hinted at opening of the route to Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. The 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev is being observed in November 2019. The ties between the two countries had strained after the terror attacks by Pakistan-based groups in 2016 and India's surgical strikes inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Last month, India called off a meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries in New York, citing the brutal killings of three policemen in Jammu and Kashmir and Islamabad releasing postage stamps "glorifying" Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani. On SAARC conference, Faisal said Pakistan held talks with all South Asian countries, on the sidelines of UN General Assembly meeting in New York, and they all were very positive to come to Islamabad for the summit. However, he claimed that India is creating hurdles. SAARC Summits are usually held biennially, hosted by a member state in alphabetical order. The last SAARC Summit in 2014 was held in Kathmandu. The 2016 SAARC Summit was to be held in Islamabad but after a major terror attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18 that year, India expressed its inability to participate in the summit due to "prevailing circumstances" and stepped up diplomatic pressure on Pakistan. The summit was called off after Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to participate. Faisal also said Pakistan is raising the issue of water and what it called the controversial projects initiated by India such as Kishanganga and Ratle, at all forums.

Opening of Kartarpur corridor will remain pending if there are no talks: Pakistan

&nbsp;

<a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Pakistan" pg="AS1_InlineMedia#AS1_https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/there-was-something-in-her-shoes-says-pakistan-about-confiscating-footwear-of-jadhavs-wife/articleshow/62262587.cms~Pakistan-https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Pakistan">Pakistan</a>&nbsp;today rejected as &quot;baseless&quot; India&#39;s contention&nbsp;that&nbsp;Kulbhushan Jadhav&#39;s family was harassed&nbsp;and claimed that his wife&#39;s shoes were confiscated on security grounds as there was &quot;something&quot; in it.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Foreign-Office" pg="AS1_InlineMedia#AS1_https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/there-was-something-in-her-shoes-says-pakistan-about-confiscating-footwear-of-jadhavs-wife/articleshow/62262587.cms~Foreign Office-https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Foreign-Office">Foreign Office</a>&nbsp;in a statement said that Pakistan does not wish to indulge in a &quot;meaningless battle of words&quot; and categorically rejects India&#39;s baseless &quot;allegations and twists&quot; about attitude of authorities during Jadhav&#39;s meeting with his wife and mother.

&quot;The Indian baseless allegations and twists, that come 24 hrs later, about the visit of the wife and mother of Commander Jadhav, a convicted terrorist and spy, who has confessed to his crimes, are categorically rejected,&quot; the statement said. 
 
&quot;If Indian concerns were serious, the guests or the Indian DHC should have raised them during the visit, with the media, which was readily available, but at a safe distance, as requested by India,&quot; it said. 
 
&quot;We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words. Our openness and transparency belie these allegations,&quot; it said. 
 
Responding to India&#39;s contentions that Jadhav&#39;s wife&#39;s shoes were not returned to her after the meeting, Foreign Office spokesman&nbsp;<a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Muhammad-Faisal" pg="AS1_InlineMedia#AS1_https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/there-was-something-in-her-shoes-says-pakistan-about-confiscating-footwear-of-jadhavs-wife/articleshow/62262587.cms~Muhammad Faisal-https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Muhammad-Faisal">Muhammad Faisal</a>&nbsp;told DawnNews that the shoes were confiscated on &quot;security grounds&quot;. 
 
&quot;There was something in the shoe (of Jadhav&#39;s wife),&quot; Faisal told the daily, adding that the shoe is being investigated. 
 
He said Jadhav&#39;s wife had been provided replacement shoes and all her jewellery was returned to her. 
 
The spokesman said that the fact is that Jadhav&#39;s mother &quot;publicly thanked Pakistan for the humanitarian gesture, which was also recorded by the media.&quot; 
 
&quot;Nothing more needs to be said on the issue,&quot; he said. 
 
India today accused Pakistan of violating mutual understandings on Jadhav&#39;s meeting with his family and said the Indian national appeared coerced and under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction. 
 
India also accused Pakistan of disregarding cultural and religious sensibilities of family members under the pretext of security. 
 
&quot;This included removal of mangal sutra, bangles and bindi, as well as a change in attire that was not warranted by security,&quot; it said.

During yesterday&#39;s meeting, whose pictures were released by Pakistan, Jadhav was seen sitting behind a glass screen while his mother and wife sat on the other side. They spoke through intercom and the entire 40-minute proceedings appeared to have been recorded on video.

India said that &quot;for some inexplicable reason, despite her repeated requests&quot;, Jadhav&#39;s wife&#39;s shoes were not returned to her after the meeting.

Jadhav, who was captured in March last year, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted. 
 
New Delhi says Jadhav was kidnapped in&nbsp;<a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Iran" pg="AS1_InlineMedia#AS1_https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/there-was-something-in-her-shoes-says-pakistan-about-confiscating-footwear-of-jadhavs-wife/articleshow/62262587.cms~Iran-https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Iran">Iran</a>where he had legitimate business interests, and brought to Pakistan. To save Jadhav, India moved the&nbsp;<a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/International-Court-of-Justice" pg="AS1_InlineMedia#AS1_https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/there-was-something-in-her-shoes-says-pakistan-about-confiscating-footwear-of-jadhavs-wife/articleshow/62262587.cms~International Court of Justice-https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/International-Court-of-Justice">International Court of Justice</a> ,&nbsp;which ordered Pakistan in May to stay his execution.

Pakistan claimed that his wife's shoes were confiscated on security grounds as there was something in it

Pakistan today rejected as "baseless" India's contention that Kulbhushan Jadhav's family was harassed and claimed that his wife's shoes were confiscated on security grounds as there was "something" in it. The Foreign Office in a statement said that Pakistan does not wish to indulge in a "meaningless battle of words" and categorically rejects India's baseless "allegations and twists" about attitude of authorities during Jadhav's meeting with his wife and mother. "The Indian baseless allegations and twists, that come 24 hrs later, about the visit of the wife and mother of Commander Jadhav, a convicted terrorist and spy, who has confessed to his crimes, are categorically rejected," the statement said. "If Indian concerns were serious, the guests or the Indian DHC should have raised them during the visit, with the media, which was readily available, but at a safe distance, as requested by India," it said. "We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words. Our openness and transparency belie these allegations," it said. Responding to India's contentions that Jadhav's wife's shoes were not returned to her after the meeting, Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Faisal told DawnNews that the shoes were confiscated on "security grounds". "There was something in the shoe (of Jadhav's wife)," Faisal told the daily, adding that the shoe is being investigated. He said Jadhav's wife had been provided replacement shoes and all her jewellery was returned to her. The spokesman said that the fact is that Jadhav's mother "publicly thanked Pakistan for the humanitarian gesture, which was also recorded by the media." "Nothing more needs to be said on the issue," he said. India today accused Pakistan of violating mutual understandings on Jadhav's meeting with his family and said the Indian national appeared coerced and under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction. India also accused Pakistan of disregarding cultural and religious sensibilities of family members under the pretext of security. "This included removal of mangal sutra, bangles and bindi, as well as a change in attire that was not warranted by security," it said. During yesterday's meeting, whose pictures were released by Pakistan, Jadhav was seen sitting behind a glass screen while his mother and wife sat on the other side. They spoke through intercom and the entire 40-minute proceedings appeared to have been recorded on video. India said that "for some inexplicable reason, despite her repeated requests", Jadhav's wife's shoes were not returned to her after the meeting. Jadhav, who was captured in March last year, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted. New Delhi says Jadhav was kidnapped in Iranwhere he had legitimate business interests, and brought to Pakistan. To save Jadhav, India moved the International Court of Justice , which ordered Pakistan in May to stay his execution.

Pakistan rejects India's contention that Kulbhushan Jadhav's family was harassed

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Exclusive conversation with Dr Muhammad Faisal, Pakistan MoFA Spokesperson

Opening of Kartarpur corridor will remain pending if there are no talks: Pakistan

Pakistan rejects India's contention that Kulbhushan Jadhav's family was harassed