Pakistan suspends talks with India

Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit also said that the arrest of an alleged Indian spy, Kulbushan Jadhav, proved Islamabad’s allegations that New Delhi was causing unrest in Balochistan. Asked about a meeting between the foreign secretaries of the two countries, Basit said: “There is no meeting scheduled for now. I think at present the peace process is suspended.

“India is not ready as yet,” Basit said, but quickly added that “We can only resolve issues through dialogue.” This is the first official word from Pakistan about the latest breakdown in the now-on-now-off peace process with India. After a team of Pakistani officials visited Pathankot to probe Indian charges that Pakistani terrorists were to blame for the January 2 attack, New Delhi had expected Islamabad to allow a National Investigation Agency (NIA) team to visit that country to take the investigation forward. Basit ruled out the possibility. “The investigation (into the Pathankot attack) is not about reciprocity,” he said. 

Basit referred to the arrest of alleged Indian spy Jadhav in Balochistan last month and said that it “Irrefutably corroborates what Pakistan has been saying all along.”