Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal Thursday accused New Delhi of using chemical weapons in Jammu and Kashmir said asserted that Kartarpur border crossing cannot be opened till India responds.
“Pakistan was not pleading with India to hold talks, but that it was the latter who had initiated contact,” the FO said.
He said Pakistan “could only try” to co-exist peacefully with its neighbour.
Faisal said 18 Kashmiris have been killed by Indian forces in the past two weeks in Kashmir.
He condemned the killing of Kashmiris as well as the use of chemical weapons by the Indian troops in Kashmir.
On a question on Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav’s trial at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Faisal said Pakistan was fully prepared to contest the case.
The hearings of the case would be held at the ICJ headquarters in The Hague from February 18-21, next year.
Faisul said opening of the Kartarpur border crossing for Sikh pilgrims would remain pending if there are no talks between India and Pakistan.
“Nothing can happen if there are no talks between the two countries. He, however, reiterated Pakistan’s stance to hold talks with India to resolve all outstanding issues,” state-run Radio Pakistan reported.
Kartarpur is situated in Narowal district of Pakistan’s Punjab province, close to Indo-Pak border. It was established by the first Sikh Guru in 1522. The first Gurdwara, Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, was built here, where Guru Nanak Dev is said to have died.
Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan is located across the river Ravi, about four kilometres from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district.
Indian cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, who had attended Imran Khan’s swearing in ceremony in Islamabad in August, has said that Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa hinted at opening of the route to Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.
The 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev is being observed in November 2019.
Faisal said Pakistan is raising the issue of water and the controversial projects initiated by India such as Kishanganga and Ratle, at all forums.
Delhi using chemical weapons in Kashmir: Pakistan Foreign Office
