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By Geeta Mohan: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar rapped his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for raking up the issue of abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and blaming it as the reason behind the fallout between New Delhi and Islamabad.
“Article 370 is history. Wake up and smell the coffee,” Jaishankar said while addressing the press after the conclusion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Goa.
In an exclusive interview to India Today TV, Bilawal Bhutto said that India violated international commitment with the removal of special status for Jammu and Kashmir. “Unless India reviews the action it took on August 5, 2019 (abrogation of Article 370), Pakistan is not in a position to engage bilaterally with India,” he said.
Speaking about Pakistan’s objection to G20 meetings in Jammu and Kashmir, Jaishankar said the country has nothing to do either with the summit or with Srinagar and Kashmir. “They have nothing to do with the G20, nothing to do with even Srinagar and Kashmir. They should talk about when they will vacate the illegally occupied territories of Jammu and Kashmir,” Jaishankar said.
Also Read | Jaishankar, Pakistan’s Bilawal Bhutto shook hands at Goa SCO dinner: Sources
The external affairs minister further stressed that the victims of terrorism don’t sit with the perpetrators of terrorism to discuss terrorism.
“The victims of terrorism don’t sit with the perpetrators of terrorism to discuss terrorism. They (Pakistan) are committing acts of terrorism. All are feeling equally outraged today. Pakistan’s credibility is depleting faster than its Forex reserves,” Jaishankar said.
Speaking about Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto’s India visit, Jaishankar said not much should be read into it. “He (Bhutto) came here as a foreign minister of a member state. Please don’t see it as anything more than that, as it didn’t mean anything more than that,” he stressed.
“We are not scoring diplomatic points. We are politically and diplomatically exposing Pakistan in front of the world,” he said as he responded to Bhutto’s statement that terrorism is being weaponised.
Also Read | Unless India reviews Article 370…: Pakistan’s Bilwal Bhutto on resuming ties with New Delhi
Bilawal Bhutto landed in Goa on Thursday afternoon to take part in the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers meeting, the main deliberations of which happened today. This is the first visit by a Pakistani foreign minister to India since Hina Rabbani Khar met the former External Affairs Minister of India, SM Krishna, in 2011. Khar is currently serving as Pakistan’s minister of state for foreign affairs.
This is also the first high-level visit from Pakistan after its foreign affairs advisor, Sartaj Aziz, visited India in December 2016.
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