New Delhi: India called off the Foreign Secretary level talks scheduled between the two countries on August 25 in Islamabad on Monday after Pak High Commissioner Abdul Basit's decision to meet separatist leaders from Kashmir at Delhi. The moderate Hurriyat faction had on Sunday said that Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq had been invited by the Pakistan High Commission for consultations in Delhi on August 19, following which India called off the Foreign Secretary level talks. It is reported that the Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh informed Pakistan High Commissioner that her talks with Pakistan counterpart on August 25 in Islamabad now stand cancelled. The condition for the talks was "India or separatists", said sources; but Pak's top envoy went ahead with the meeting.

Upon this breach, India conveyed its displeasure, and said, "Under the present circumstances,...No useful purpose will be served by the Indian Foreign Secretary going to Islamabad next week. At a time when serious initiative was taken to take bilateral ties forward, invite to Hurriyat leaders raises questions about Pak’s sincerity.” Talking to scribes over the matter, Syed Akbaruddin, Official Spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs, said, "Indian Foreign Secretary had conveyed to the Pakistan High Commissioner (Abdul Basit) today, in clear and unambiguous terms, that Pakistan's continued efforts to interfere in India's internal affairs were unacceptable. It was underlined that the Pakistani High Commissioner's meetings with these so called leaders of the Hurriyat undermines the constructive diplomatic engagement initiated by Prime Minister Modi in May on his very first day in office," he added.

“Pak High Commissioner's meeting with so called Hurriyat leaders undermined the constructive diplomatic arrangements made by PM Modi,” the MEA spokesperson added. Separatists from Kashmir expressed surprise over Indian government's move to cancel the proposed talks with Pakistan saying it was "unfortunate" and would only ensure that the stand-off between the two countries continued. Hinting at a 'political conspiracy behind the move', Kashmiri separatist leader of the Democratic Freedom Party Shabir Shah, who met Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit today, said the decision to cancel the talks did not augur well for the sub-continent. "We expected that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was willing to solve all issues including Kashmir. His move to invite Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for oath-taking ceremony, which was responded to with equal enthusiasm, was seen as a silver lining in the dark clouds over Kashmir...But this move of cancelling the talks will only contribute to confusion," he said.