By IANS,
New Delhi : Reacting to Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s statement that his government has given a “blank cheque” to China to talk to India on its behalf on the issue of terrorism, the Congress party Friday said it would not allow any third-party mediation.
“It is against the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) convention, in which there is no scope for any third-party intervention as far as action against terrorism is concerned,” Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters.
Cornered by the world community on its response to the Mumbai terror attacks, Pakistan asked its all-weather friend China to negotiate on its behalf with India in the aftermath of the carnage.
“Go to Delhi, you have a blank cheque from us,” Qureshi Wednesday recalled telling visiting Chinese special envoy He Yafei in December to deal with the tensions generated by the Mumbai attacks.
Tewari said the statement of the Pakistani minister shows the basic difference in the foreign policy of India and Pakistan.
“This shows the basic difference in the foreign policy of India and Pakistan. India has always followed an independent foreign policy while Pakistan has a history of foreign policy of alignment. Even during the Cold War era, while India followed the non-alignment policy, the case with Pakistan was the other way,” he said.
Tewari said though it was an internal matter of Pakistan, but talks between the two countries could only be undertaken on the basis of the Shimla and Lahore agreements without any third-party mediation.