Lashing out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi in response to India’s decision to stay away from the peace dialogue, Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday said he was “disappointed at the arrogant and negative response by India”.
“Disappointed at the arrogant and negative response by India to my call for resumption of the peace dialogue,” Khan tweeted.
“However, all my life I have come across small men occupying big offices who do not have the vision to see the larger picture,” he added.
Disappointed at the arrogant & negative response by India to my call for resumption of the peace dialogue. However, all my life I have come across small men occupying big offices who do not have the vision to see the larger picture.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) September 22, 2018
Earlier on Friday, New Delhi called off a meeting between Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi which was scheduled to be held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) session later this month.
The decision came following nation-wide outrage over the brutal killings of Indian security personnel by Pakistan-based entities.
India also lashed out at Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Imran Khan, saying his “true face” has been revealed to the world in his first few months in office.
The cancellation of the foreign ministers’ meeting came within 24 hours of India announcing that it has accepted the Pakistan PM’s request to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a letter for such a meeting.
In a strongly-worded statement, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar noted that since Thursday’s announcement of a meeting between the two foreign ministers, two deeply disturbing developments have taken place.
“The brutal killings of our security personnel by Pakistan-based entities and the recent release of a series of 20 postage stamps by Pakistan glorifying a terrorist and terrorism confirm that Pakistan will not mend its ways,” he said.
The spokesperson said the decision to agree to Pakistan’s proposal for a meeting between the foreign ministers was in response to the spirit reflected in the letters from the new Prime Minister and his Foreign Minister.
It is learnt that senior officials of the PMO and the External Affairs Ministry held a meeting on Friday afternoon and took note of the nation-wide outrage over the mutilation of the body of the BSF jawan near Jammu and the abduction and killing of three J-K policemen.
(With agency inputs)