US says 'disappointed' that India-Pak talks called off

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Press Trust of India Washington
Last Updated : Aug 23 2015 | 1:32 AM IST
The US today said it was "disappointed" that the proposed talks between the National Security Advisers of India and Pakistan has been called off.
"We are disappointed the talks will not happen this weekend and encourage India and Pakistan to resume formal dialogue soon," a State Department spokesperson told PTI.
The spokesperson, however, said the "constructive" interaction between Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Ufa, Russia, was encouraging.
"We were encouraged by the constructive interaction between the leaders of India and Pakistan earlier this year at Ufa, particularly the announcement of dialogue between the countries' National Security Advisors," the spokesperson said.
Pakistan tonight called off the NSA-level talks proposed for tomorrow, after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj earlier in the day virtually gave an ultimatum to Islamabad to give a commitment that it would not go ahead with meeting separatists.
Swaraj was reacting to Pakistan NSA Sartaj Aziz's remarks that he was willing to come to India for talks without any pre-conditions.
India was also upset over Pakistan including Kashmir as part of the agenda for the NSA talks that was mainly scheduled to discuss terror.
The first-ever NSA-level talks was agreed upon in July in Ufa during a meeting between the prime ministers of Indian and Pakistan.
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First Published: Aug 23 2015 | 1:32 AM IST

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