'Will Make Best of It': Pakistan Leaves it Up To India to Cancel Talks

Islamabad: Pakistan's top security official said today that he is ready to "go to India and make the best of talks", lobbing the ball firmly back into Delhi's court about whether the much anticipated resumption of dialogue will begin tomorrow.

Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan's National Security Advisor, is scheduled to meet with Indian counterpart Ajit Doval on Sunday and Monday, the result of an unexpected agreement reached by Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of a regional summit in Ufa in Russia last month.

But both countries have, in the last few days, taken steps that have pushed the talks to a breaking point. India has said it will not tolerate Mr Aziz meeting with Kashmiri separatists during his trip to India, or Pakistan's move to add Kashmir to the agenda. Till this morning, Pakistan said it would not surrender on those fronts. However, Mr Aziz said today, "Pakistan is ready to hold talks without any pre-condition", indicating a last-minute flexibility on Islamabad's part.

Sources in India say that is Pakistan's way of daring India to cancel the conference.

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Last year, India cancelled talks between Foreign Secretaries after Pakistan was adamant about a similar consultation with Kashmiri separatists. This time around, the government has said Hurriyat leaders from Srinagar will be prevented from meeting Mr Aziz. Separatist Shabir Shah was detained after he landed in the capital this morning.

It's not clear how substantive the talks can be, even if they do take place. India will confront Mr Aziz with evidence of audacious Pakistani-origin terror attacks, including a recent strike on a military convoy in Udhampur in Jammu, which ended with a Pakistani terrorist being captured. The Pakistani NSA will also be shown a new picture that proves Dawood Ibrahim, one of India's most-wanted terrorists, lives in Karachi.

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Pakistan, on the other hand, will highlight its claim of India's instigation of insurgency in its Balochistan region.