MEA says no message to Pakistan for talks, claim by Imran Khan's security advisor 'misleading, fictitious'

New Delhi: India has not sent any message to Pakistan for talks as claimed by its Prime Minister Imran Khan’s special advisor on national security, the external affairs ministry said on Thursday, and asserted that Islamabad’s support to terrorism and use of abusive language against New Delhi are not conducive to normal neighbourly relations. MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava also dubbed the “misleading and fictitious” claim by Imran’s advisor Moeed Yusuf as an effort by Pakistan to divert attention from domestic failures of the government and mislead its people by pulling India into headlines on a daily basis. In an interview to an Indian news website, Yusuf had claimed that India had sent messages to Islamabad expressing a desire for conversation. He also talked about Kashmir among other issues during the interview. Reacting to Yusuf’s remarks, Srivasta said, “As regards the purported message, let me make it clear that no such message was sent from our side. We have seen reports on the interview by a senior Pakistani official to an Indian media outlet. He has commented on India’s internal matters.” “As always, this is Pakistan’s effort to divert attention from domestic failures of the present government and mislead its domestic constituents by pulling India into headlines on a daily basis,” he added. Srivastava said the official is well advised to restrict his counsel to his establishment and not to comment on India’s domestic policy. “The statements made by him are contrary to facts on the ground, misleading and fictitious,” the MEA spokesperson said. Srivastava said Pakistani leadership continues to indulge in inappropriate, provocative and hate speech against India, and its support to terrorism against India and use of “derogatory and abusive language” was not conducive to normal neighbourly relations. “Pakistan continues to support, aid and abet cross-border terrorism against India and has also been resorting to unprovoked ceasefire violations to support terrorist infiltration. Ties between India and Pakistan nosedived after a terror attack on the Pathankot Air Force base in 2016 by terror groups based in the neighbouring country. Subsequent attacks, including one on Indian Army camp in Uri, further deteriorated the relationship. The relationship further dipped after India’s war planes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terorrist training camp deep inside Pakistan on 26 February last year in response to the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed. Withdrawal of Jammu and Kashmir’s special powers and bifurcating the state into two union territories in August last year also evoked a strong reaction from Pakistan, which has been unsuccessfully trying to rally international support against India on the Kashmir issue.