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India again rejects Pakistan's offer of talks on Kashmir

Xinhua, August 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

India has for the second time turned down Pakistan's invitation for foreign secretary-level talks on the diputed region of Kashmir, saying that it is willing to discuss cross-border terrorism instead.

Sources said Thursday that Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar rejected his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry's fresh invitation of talks in Islamabad this month-end, in a letter that was handed over by Indian envoy in Islamabad Gautam Bambawale to Chaudhry Wednesday.

The latest letter, dated Aug.19, was the Pakistani Foreign Secretary's second invitation of talks to his Indian counterpart in the last 10 days. The earlier one was also turned down by India.

The invitations came amid tensions between India and Pakistan over the ongoing unrest in Indian-controlled Kashmir since the killing of 22-year-old Burhan Wani, terror outfit Hizbul Mujahiddin's poster boy for new militancy, by the Indian security forces last month.

While Pakistan has eulogized Wani as a martyr, India has accused its neighbor of sponsoring terrorism in Indian-controlled Kashmir over which the two countries have fought at least three major wars in the past 65 years. Endit