JOIN USAsserting that Kashmir problem was an internal issue of India, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid Friday hinted that stalled dialogue process with Pakistan will resume after the new government under Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the neighbouring country settles down.
Talking to mediapersons after addressing Congress workers at the Pradesh Congress Committee office here, he said, “It is not good that we say everything right at the outset. The atmosphere is good at the moment. Let it improve further to be conducive for talks.”
“Let the new government in Pakistan settle down and understand its job, then we can resume it. However, there are some issues on which both the governments and people expect some progress, and we will get some satisfaction from it. Then things can move on smoothly from there,” he added.
The External Affairs Minister said that dialogue process with Pakistan had to be stalled due to some compulsions.
“Now after elections Nawaz Sharief government has given some indications of good relations and we have also responded to that. It will take some time for him to establish and after that talks can go forward,” he said.
Terming Kashmir as internal problem of India, the External Affairs Minister said, “There is no need for any outsider to point fingers at us on what we have to do or if we have done something wrong. It is an issue within the family.”
“We have mechanism of discussions and talks through which we can comfortably solve every issue, and we will do that,” the External Affairs Minister vowed.
Khurshid termed the imposition of laws like Armed Forces Special Powers Act as compulsion for the government.
“Army which protects us on our borders also needs to be protected,” he said and added that the issue is not of Kashmir exclusively as the law also stands invoked in North Eastern states.