Pak Peace process with India suspended, says Pak envoy Abdul Basit

Delhi: Pakistan envoy Abdul Basit said in a statement on Thursday that peace process between Pakistan with India has been ' suspended ' recently. He also said that Kashmir was the major cause of mistrust between the two countries. “At the present time, there is no meeting scheduled. I think at present the peace process is suspended,” Basit told reporters at a function in New Delhi. At the same time he has also denied possibility of NIA team ' s visit to India. "Not about reciprocity but co-operation of our two countries. Personally feel that this whole investigation isnt about reciprocity, but about extending co-op to get to the bottom on this," Basit said when asked if NIA team will be allowed to visit Pakistan. "There shouldn’t be any doubt that Pak wants to have a normal and peaceful relationship with India. We all are aware of those who seek to create unrest in Pakistan and destabilize it. They are bound to fail as the people of Pakistan are united to effectively counter anti-Pakistan subversive activities on basis of sovereign equality and mutual interest. There is national consensus on this in Pakistan," he further said. "In last one month, authorities arrested scores of terror operatives with foreign linkages." Basit added. Pakistan on Wednesday said its Joint Investigation Team that was in India to probe the Pathankot terror attack had visited the “crime scene” but witnesses from the Indian security forces were not produced before the probe team. The January 2 attack was carried out by Jaish-e-Mohamed terrorists from Pakistan, in which seven Indian security force personnel were killed. On Thursday, Basit said: “Personally, I feel that this whole investigation is not about reciprocity, but about extending co-op to get to the bottom of this.” The attack has led to stalling of the resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan, which had been kick-started by a visit to Pakistan late last year by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and a December 25 stop-over visit to Lahore by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during which he held talks over tea with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif. Previous attempts at dialogue between the neighbours have been derailed by similar incidents but, as Pakistani authorities condemned the raid, experts had suggested the latest negotiations would prove more durable.