He may be the same person but is wearing two different hats in this case: Pakistan NSA Moeed Yusuf
Highlights
- “ India-related ties normalization revisiting its 2019 decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir ”
- India has also told Pakistan that talks and terror cannot go hand in hand.
- India declined to comment on Pakistan’s about-face over limited imports of sugar and cotton from the country
New Delhi: Pakistani NSA Moeed Yusuf said Imran Khan, as trade minister, approved a limited resumption of trade relations with India on March 26, but as prime minister opposed the proposal six days later, because “he can be the same people but wears two different hats”.
Speaking to a Pakistani presenter, Yusuf called Imran Khan’s decision an example of “institution building”.
The Pakistani cabinet on Thursday rejected a proposal by a very powerful committee to import cotton and sugar from India, with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi saying there could be no normalization of relations as long as New Delhi would not reverse its decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
India refuses to comment on Pakistan’s about-face
India on Friday declined to comment on Pakistan’s about-face on plans for limited imports of sugar and cotton from the country with Arindam Bagchi, spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), saying: “We do not are not the good part to whom this question should be directed. “
Pakistani leaders had toned down rhetoric against India in recent weeks, with Imran Khan and the military regularly issuing statements signaling a desire to normalize relations with New Delhi.
Pakistani army chief Jawed Qamar Bajwa said last month that “the time has come to bury the past and move forward” and called for a stable relationship between India and Pakistan. .
However, Imran Khan later said India should take the first step in improving bilateral relations by tackling the Kashmir issue.
Pakistan wants India to reverse its decision to revoke J&K special status
Last month, India and Pakistan also held the annual meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission (CIP) after a gap of more than two and a half years.
In February, India and Pakistan announced that they had agreed to a Line of Control (LoC) ceasefire.
Bilateral ties between nuclear-weapon neighbors took a nosedive after Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammed carried out the terrorist attack on Pulwama. India responded by bombing the JeM terrorist camps in Balakot.
India’s decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in 2019 also angered Pakistan and, in response, downgraded diplomatic ties and expelled the Indian high commissioner to Islamabad.