Pakistan once again invites India for talks

NEW DELHI: Pakistan High Commissioner in India Abdul Basit invited India for talks and said that statements against each other must be avoided.

"Let's talk with each other and not against each other," he said during an interview with an Indian newspaper.

"The issue of Kashmir is the basic cause for conflict between the two countries," he added.

Abdul Basit said that no surgical strike had been conducted by India and that only cross-border firing had taken place on September 29.

"On September 29, no activity took place other than cross-border firing," he said. "It was said clearly in the Indian DGMO's statement that the incident occurred at the Line of Control," he added.

He said that a couple of Pakistani and foreign journalists were given a tour of the place where the cross-border firing between India and Pakistan had taken place. No effects of an Indian surgical strike could be found in the area, he said.

"India has, for the first time, admitted violating the cease-fire agreement," he added.

Regarding the Uri attack, Abdul Basit said that as soon as an attack took place in India, fingers were pointed at Pakistan.

He claimed that blaming Pakistan would not help to thwart future attacks on India.

Two Pakistani soldiers embraced martyrdom on Thursday when Indian forces resorted to unprovoked firing across the Line of Control (LoC).

The unprovoked fire was painted as a ‘surgical strike’ by senior Indian officials, in a move apparently aimed to satisfy the public.

Pakistan rebuffed the claims with the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) saying, "There has been no surgical strike by India, instead there had been cross-border fire initiated and conducted by Indian forces which is an existential phenomenon".

India also violated the ceasefire agreement in the coming days on several occasion with the latest violation coming on Tuesday morning when Indian forces targeted Samahni sector.

Of late, tensions soared high between the two nuclear-armed adversaries over occupied Kashmir and an attack on Indian army's brigade headquarters in Uri, which left 18 soldiers dead.