MEA reacts on Pakistan PM's talk remarks, says discussions only possible on THESE conditions

Earlier this week, Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif insisted that India and Pakistan should sit at a table and resolve the Kashmir issue as the three wars with India have brought more misery, poverty and unemployment to the people.

New Delhi: Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said that India has always wanted normal ties with Pakistan but there should be an atmosphere free from terror for it. The MEA was reacting to Pak PM's comments on talks with India. Addressing the weekly media briefing, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "We have said that we have always wanted normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan. But there should be a conducive atmosphere which does not have terror, hostility or violence. That remains our position." Earlier this week, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif insisted that India and Pakistan should sit at a table and resolve the Kashmir issue as the three wars with India have brought more misery, poverty and unemployment to the people. 

"India and Pakistan were neighbours and they have to live with each other. It is up to us to live peacefully and make progress or quarrel with each other and waste time and resources. We have three wars with India and it only brought more misery, poverty and unemployment to the people. We have learnt our lesson and we want to live in peace provided we are able to resolve our genuine problems," he told Dubai-based Al Arabiya TV.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Pak Government issued a clarification over Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's viral interview with Al Arabiya channel in which he expressed his sincere desire to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on all pressing problems, including Kashmir.

Prime Minister's Office (Pak PMO) issued a statement in which it said that talks with India can only take place after the country reverses its “illegal action of August 5, 2019”, referring to the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories- Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh on August 5, 2019.