Swaraj-Qureshi talks cancellation bad news for J&K: Mehbooba Mufti

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti Friday said calling off the meeting between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan was bad news as both the countries owed it to the people of the state to carry on the dialogue.

"Calling off meeting between India & Pak's FMs is bad news for J&K. Both countries owe it to people of state & country to carry on dialogue rather than talking through media. Inspite of a historic mandate, it is media & not NDA leadership that is setting the agenda," Mehbooba wrote on Twitter.

Barely 24 hours after agreeing to the engagement, the government Friday called off a meeting between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan in New York, citing the brutal killings of three policemen in Jammu and Kashmir and Islamabad releasing postage stamps "glorifying" Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani.

Announcing the cancellation of the meeting, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the incidents "exposed" the "true face" of Pakistan's new Prime Minister Imran Khan to the world as well as Islamabad's evil agenda behind the proposal for talks. He added that talks with Pakistan in such an environment would be "meaningless".

Mehbooba had earlier welcomed the proposed meeting between the two foreign ministers.

"Accepting peace overtures of Pakistan's PM Imran Khan by agreeing to a meeting between India & Pakistan's Foreign Ministers is a welcome step. Even though it has come towards the fag end of NDA's tenure, better late than never," she had earlier said on Twitter.