Summary Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale handed over a letter to the Foreign Office.
NEW DELHI (Web Desk) - India has rejected Pakistan’s proposal for a foreign secretary-level talks on Kashmir.
Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale handed over a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today (Wednesday), formally rejecting its invitation for talks on Jammu and Kashmir, NDTV reported.
Earlier on Monday, Pakistan invited India for talks on Kashmir, saying it is the “international obligation” of both the countries to resolve the issue, notwithstanding India’s insistence that it would talk on “contemporary and relevant” issues in Indo-Pak relations.
“The letter highlights the international obligation of both the countries, India and Pakistan, to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, in accordance with the U.N. Security Council resolutions,” the statement said.
The invitation was extended amid tension in bilateral ties due to the war of words between the two nations over the issue.
Indian Occupied Kashmir has been under curfew since protests erupted over the death last month of a popular young freedom fighter, Burhan Wani, in a gunfight with Indian security forces.
More than 70 civilians have been killed in clashes between protesters and security forces, and thousands more injured in the worst violence to hit the Himalayan region since 2010.
Kashmir is split between India and Pakistan along a UN-monitored line of control, but both claim it in full and have fought two wars over its control.
Freedom fighters have battled Indian security forces in Kashmir since 1989 for the independence of the region or for it to be made part of Pakistan. The conflict has left tens of thousands, mostly civilians, dead.
