NEW DELHI, India—Reacting to the recent killings of Indian soldiers at Indo-Pak border, the Indian government has called off the meeting of Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj with its Pakistani counterpart during SAARC council’s meet at New York. Notably, the Kartarpur Corridor Project for facilitating visa-free access of Gurdwara Sri Kartarpur Sahib for Indian Sikhs was to be discussed in this meeting.
“In view of the changed situation, there will be no meeting between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan in New York,” the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a press release while accusing the Pakistan of supporting “terror” by releasing a series of twenty postage stamps glorifying a terrorist and “terrorism”.
“Now, it is obvious that behind Pakistan’s proposal for talks to make a fresh beginning, the evil agenda of Pakistan stands exposed and the true face of the new Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan has been revealed to the world in his first few months in office. Any conversation with Pakistan in such an environment would be meaningless” the Indian MEA said.
It is pertinent to note here that although the Imran Khan led Pakistan government has come forward to provide visa-free access of Gurdwara Sri Kartarpur Sahib to Sikhs residing in India but establishing robust relations with Pakistan doesn’t suit the Modi government’s agenda of polarizing vote bank on the name of religion and infusing a feeling of “patriotism” by creating an impression of danger of terror to the country.
