India has said that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence. India has said the onus is on Pakistan to create an environment free of terror and hostility.
India has also told Pakistan that talks and terror cannot go together and has asked Islamabad to take demonstrable steps against terror groups responsible for launching various attacks on India.
Pakistan said on Friday (2 April) that it never shied away from meaningful talks with India but the normalisation of ties was linked with India revisiting its 2019 decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday rejected the proposal of the high-powered committee to import cotton from India, with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi asserting that there can be no normalisation of ties until New Delhi reverses its decision in 2019 to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistan’s U-turn came a day after ECC, under newly-appointed Finance Minister Hammad Azhar, recommended importing cotton and sugar from India, lifting a nearly two-year-long ban on its import from the neighbouring country amidst tensions over the Kashmir issue. Neighbours should be friends, not rivals.