Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar said on Thursday made it clear that ever since the incumbent government came to power, there has been no backchannel diplomacy going on between Pakistan and India. “At this moment, there is no such thing under way,” she said during a Senate session. Rabbani’s statement comes a day after Indian media reported that New Delhi invited Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial to attend the foreign ministers’ and chief justices’ meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which is scheduled to take place in Goa in May.

According to reports, Pakistan is yet to respond to the invite sent by India through its High Commission in Islamabad. Last week, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to hold serious and sincere talks to resolve burning issues, including Kashmir, and said the United Arab Emirates leadership could play an important role in bringing India and Pakistan to the table.

However, a day later the Prime Minister’s Office clarified that talks with India can only take place after the country reverses its “illegal action of August 5, 2019”, which was aimed at illegally altering the demography of the Muslim-majority state of India-occupied Kashmir.

During a session of the upper house of the Parliament on Thursday Khar said that backchannel diplomacy was only desirable when it was result-oriented. She stated that Pakistan had always taken initiatives to promote peace. “However, right now, the cross-border hostility [from India] is of a unique type.”

The BBC documentary on Modi has shown the world why we have stood on this position, the minister said, adding that Pakistan had learnt from history but some countries in the region have not. She went on to say that oftentimes, on international forums, Pakistan was asked to normalise its ties with India. “To them, our response is that they should look at the messages we have received from India. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar told the house during question hour that hostility coming in from the neighboring country is of unique nature.

She said relations have been marred by a number of provocative steps by India. She said the BBC documentary banned by India has vindicated Pakistan’s viewpoint on Gujarat massacre. The Minister of State said Pakistan is keen that its eastern and western borders remain peaceful. She said we continue to be on journey of peace. She described the opening of Kartarpur Corridor as a positive precedent saying such processes must move forward.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP