File photo: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the United Nations General Assembly. (Reuters)
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said that before holding any talks with India, his government will consult Kashmiri separatists. The statement is a serious rebuff to India, which has said no dialogue is possible if Islamabad insists on conferring with the separatists.
In August, India cancelled talks because the Pakistani envoy in Delhi met with separatist leaders in defiance of a warning from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
"Pakistan will speak with Kashmiri leaders before it enters into dialogue with India," Mr Sharif said today according to the website of the Pakistani daily
The Dawn.
"It is our fundamental belief that the Kashmir issue should be resolved through dialogue. My government initiated dialogue with India but it cancelled the scheduled foreign secretary talks," he said.
Mr Sharif added that the international community has acknowledged India's "biased attitude" towards Pakistan.
Last month, India warned Pakistan of "more pain" if it continues to violate a ceasefire in Kashmir. At least 20 civilians were killed last month and dozens left injured in the worst violence along the Kashmir border in over a decade.
"Our conventional strength is far more than theirs. So if they persist with this, they'll feel the pain of this adventurism," Defence Minister Arun Jaitley had told NDTV in an interview. He said it was up to to Pakistan to create conditions for a dialogue, and said Islamabad should decide "whether to talk to separatists or talk to us."
Mr Modi had invited his Pakistani counterpart to his inauguration in May as part of a push to rebuild trust with neighbours. But after violence erupted in Kashmir in August, Mr Modi accused Pakistan of fighting a "proxy war" in India by deploying militants across the border.
In September, Mr Modi and Mr Sharif did not meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session that they attended in New York.