(MENAFN- Arab Times) Pakistan's national security adviser insisted Saturday that he was ready to travel to New Delhi for talks with his Indian counterpart despite a row between the arch-rivals over his planned meeting with Kashmiri separatist leaders. India's foreign ministry has said it would be inappropriate for Sartaj Aziz to hold talks with representatives of the Hurriyat separatist movement before his meeting on Sunday with Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. India cancelled talks with Pakistan last year between their foreign secretaries, outraged over a similar meeting that took place, a move that set back already tense r e l a t i o n s between the nuclear-armed neighbours. "On my part, I am still prepared to go to New Delhi for NSA talks without any preconditions," Aziz told a news conference in Islamabad, accusing the Indian media of creating a controversy out of nothing. Aziz claimed Delhi had "virtually cancelled" Sunday's talks, and added: "As always, India has been conducting a part of its diplomacy through the Indian media."
Tensions
On Friday, India said it urged Pakistan against meeting Kashmiri separatist leaders ahead of the rare talks, hiking tensions. Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj was due to address journalists Saturday afternoon. Pakistan and India have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region since both gained independence in 1947, and it remains a major source of tension. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif during a visit to the Russian city of Ufa last month, with the hour-long talks seen as a new thaw in ties between the countries. The leaders agreed then that their top security officials would meet to "discuss all issues connected to terrorism", in a resumption of talks between their officials. Pakistani troops pushed deeper into militant-held areas in the North Waziristan region on Friday, launching a ground offensive against the Pakistani Taleban and other Islamist fighters in their last strongholds near the Afghan border. Since May, the military has stepped up operations in the deeply forested ravines of the Shawal valley, which straddles the regions of North and South Waziristan along the frontier with Afghanistan, and is dotted with militant bases. Pakistani troops began pushing deeper into Shawal after days of aerial bombing that the army said killed dozens of militants.
Announced
"Ground operation in Shawal, North Waziristan begins," the army's chief spokesman, Major General Asim Sali Bajwa, announced on Twitter late Thursday night. Residents remaining in Shawal said many were desperately looking for a way to flee. "In the last days, there has been heavy bombardment in the area. I'm worried for my children," said Shamal Khan, speaking by telephone from the remote area. This week's thrust by the armed forces is described as a final clearing of the militants' last hideouts in the valley. The Pakistani military recaptured most of North Waziristan in an offensive started in June 2014. Before the operation began, the army ordered most civilians to leave. Those in the Shawal valley were permitted to stay. Another resident, Mir Alam, said local officials didn't tell them to go before this week's bombardment. "Now we are in a hurry to get out, but I have hundreds of goats and more than a dozen family members here," he said. Pakistani Taleban spokesman Muhammed Kurassani denied government claims of dozens of militants killed in the past week. "We have no losses there because the government does not know where we are," he said. Retired Pakistani brigadier general Shaukat Qadir said he doubted this week's offensive would be the final blow in Pakistan's fight against jihadist militants. "Every phase will be final, but it's not been ended," Qadir told Reuters, noting that the ideology and recruitment ability of the Taleban and other jihadists remained along with the ability to launch militant attacks. The Pakistani Taleban mainly fight the Pakistani state with the ultimate goal of establishing their strict interpretation of Islamic sharia as the law of the land.
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