J&K CM disappointed over cancellation of Indo-Pak talks

Mufti Sayeed said he hoped that "the break in talks would be temporary"

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed today expressed disappointment over the cancellation of NSA talks between India and Pakistan and hoped that "the break in talks would be temporary".

The Chief Minister had a veiled advice for Pakistan and separatists too in his reaction after Pakistan called off the talks late last night, saying "It is neither warranted nor desirable to insist upon all-inclusive participation, directly or indirectly, in each and every bilateral meeting, like that between the two NSAs."

He said he was disappointed over abrupt cancellation of bilateral meeting between National Security Advisors of India and Pakistan but hoped that break in talks would be "temporary and the thaw achieved at Ufa (Russia), where Prime Ministers of the two countries met and exhibited great camaraderie, will not be allowed to go waste."

Hoping that India and Pakistan will "re-engage soon in a meaningful dialogue" and steps taken by New Delhi to remove impediments in normalization of relations will be reciprocated by Islamabad, Sayeed said he wants to see both the countries "walk the bridge of trust together".

For a sensitive border state like Jammu and Kashmir, peace and stability on both, the internal and the external fronts, "are of critical significance to normalcy, stability and development", the Chief Minister said.

"From this perspective, last-minute cancellation of the NSA-level bilateral meeting between our country and Pakistan is a great disappointment. Escalation of firing along the Line of Control (LoC), coupled with incidents of terrorism, are matters of serious concern to us here, as much as they are in the rest of the country," he said.