Pakistan's U-turn on talks with India, says PM Modi's letter doesn't mention offer for dialogue

India had denied making any offers in the letter to PM Imran Khan and said that PM Modi merely wrote a congratulatory letter to his Pakistani counterpart.

NEW DELHI: After India on Monday denied any mention of an offer for dialogue with Pakistan, Islamabad has made a U-turn. Backtracking on its earlier claims, Pakistan said that its foreign Minister never said that the Indian PM made an offer for dialogue.

"Foreign Minister hadn't stated 'Indian PM had made the offer of dialogue' but had said that Indian PM in his letter to PM Imran Khan, had also mentioned something similar to what Foreign Minister elucidated earlier i.e. the way forward was only through constructive engagement," the Pakistan government said in a statement.

Newly-appointed Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had on Monday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called for dialogue in a letter to his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan. "Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written a letter to PM Imran Khan in which he indicated the beginning of talks between the two countries," Qureshi said.

India, however, denied making any offers in the letter to PM Imran Khan. India maintained that PM Modi merely wrote a congratulatory letter to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief and did not make any reference to the revival of talks.

Asserting that talks between the two neighbours must resume, the Pakistan minister had on Monday said that there was a need for “continued and uninterrupted” dialogue between India and Pakistan. He said that the countries could not afford to indulge in adventurism.

He said after being sworn- in that the issues between India and Pakistan were complicated and there might be some hurdles in resolving them. He, however, added, “We must admit that Kashmir is a reality”.

After PTI's victory in Pakistan general elections on July 25, PM Modi had called up Imran Khan and congratulated him. The PM had later said that he expected Pakistan, under the new Prime Minister, to work to make the region free from terror and violence. "I have always said that we wish to have good neighbourly relations. We have also taken various initiatives in this regard. I recently congratulated Imran Khan on his victory in the elections. We hope that Pakistan would work for a safe, secure, stable and prosperous region, free from terror and violence," PM Modi had said.