Thaindian News

New Delhi, June 23 (IANS) Terming the Kashmir issue as a “gift of the Nehru family”, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday warned the Congress-led central government of a nationwide agitation if any “compromise” was made on the issue.

Speaking here on a day when the two-day foreign secretary level talks between India and Pakistan began in Islamabad, BJP leader L.K. Advani said the party had information that the government was in a mood to make a compromise on the Kashmir dispute.

“We also get information time to time that an unofficial agreement has been done. The BJP is spread across the country, if any type of compromise on Kashmir is done and they try to turn the clock back to the situation before 1953, a nationwide agitation will take place which no one can imagine,” Advani said.

Advani blamed former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru for creating the “Kashmir problem”.

“Our countrymen should know that the Kashmir problem is Nehru family’s special gift to the nation,” he said.

“Our country has paid an incalculable price for Nehruji’s failure to settle the Kashmir issue once and for all in India’s favour at the time of partition. Nehruji’s blunder was totally avoidable,” he added.

Party spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said that Pakistan needed to convince India that it was against terrorism.

“Pakistan needs to convince us that they are earnest about controlling cross-border terrorism. They are also not giving us enough reasons to believe that they will bring the perpetrators of 26/11 to justice,” Sitharaman said.

“As a result, having a composite dialogue with Pakistan itself is worrying and to have to avoid terrorism in total as part of agenda of their talks is very worrying. What is that they are trying to achieve through the process of this dialogue,” she asked.

The BJP spokesperson also said that it will be “talk for talk’s sake” unless terrorism features on the agenda.

Two-day talks between Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir began in Islamabad Thursday.

The two top diplomats held discussions on peace and security and confidence building measures (CBMs) across the Line of Control in Kashmir. The second and third round of talks on Jammu and Kashmir and promotion of friendly exchanges will take place Friday.