Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti lamented the “politicizing” of the phone conversation between Pakistan foreign minister and a top Hurriyat leader, calling the row as the lowest unsuccessful point in foreign policy of India.
“Terming a phone call between Pakistani FM & Mirwaiz Umar Farooq sahab as anti-India has reduced ties to an unbelievable nadir,” Mehbooba tweeted.
Terming a phone call between Pakistani FM & Mirwaiz Umar Farooq sahab as anti India has reduced ties to an unbelievable nadir.
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) January 31, 2019
In a series of tweets, Mehbooba said it was during the NDA rule under former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee that meetings between Hurriyat leadership and Pakistani officials were facilitated besides allowing separatist to visit Pakistan.
“Ironically it was NDA under Vajpayee ji that facilitated meetings between Hurriyat leaders & Pakistani dignitaries plus allowing them to visit Pakistan to hold talks with the establishment including the then President General Musharraf,” she said.
She added: “A foreign policy dictated by the compulsions of electoral politics is shockingly pathetic.”
Earlier today, Pakistan’s Foreign Office rejected objection raised by India over Qureshi’s telephone call to Mirwaiz.
The row started after Qureshi called Mirwaiz on Tuesday and spoke about Islamabad’s efforts to highlight the human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir internationally.
In reaction, India told Pakistan on Wednesday to lay off on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir and Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood.
Gokhale condemned in “the strongest terms this latest brazen attempt by Pakistan to subvert India’s unity and to violate our sovereignty and territorial integrity, by none other than the Pakistan Foreign Minister”.
Pakistan, however, dismissed India’s objection in a statement, saying, “Kashmir is an unresolved issue between Pakistan and India and acknowledged as such through UN Security Council resolutions, including the Simla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration.