Pakistan's National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz has accused India of acting like a regional superpower, saying it was imposing its agenda in violation of the Ufa agreement that scuttled the NSA-level talks. He said Pakistan was not responsible for the cancellation of the first-ever NSA-level talks.
Aziz said that since taking over the government last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi considers India as regional power, forgetting that Pakistan is "nuclear power".
"Modi's India acts as if they are a regional superpower, but we are also a nuclear-armed country and we know how to defend ourselves," Aziz was quoted as saying by the Dawn.
He said India wants talks on normalisation on its own terms by having discussion only on matters relating to trade and connectivity. He said if Kashmir is not an issue then "why has India stationed 700,000 troops in occupied Kashmir?"
Aziz said the entire international community believes that Kashmir is a problem between the two countries which should be resolved. "India should realise after the current episode that their tactics are not working," Aziz said and asked India to hold a referendum in Kashmir to let people decide their fate.
Aziz said that Pakistan would not run from talks on terrorism. "We also have evidence of RAW’s involvement in fuelling terrorism in Pakistan," he claimed.
The talks were called off at last minute due to difference over Aziz's planned meeting with separatist leaders and his intention to discuss Kashmir with counterpart.
Photograph: Scott Barbour/Getty Images
