India Rejects Pakistan PM’s Call for Talks, Says Dialogue Suspended Until Terror Ends

By A Staff Reporter

New Delhi – India on Thursday firmly rejected Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s latest call for dialogue, reiterating that talks and terror cannot go together. In a clear and uncompromising message, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed that all discussions, including those related to the Indus Waters Treaty, Kashmir, and trade, remain suspended until Islamabad takes concrete and irreversible steps against terrorism.

At his weekly press briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “As far as our engagement with Pakistan is concerned, our stand has been clear. Any engagement has to be bilateral. We would like to reiterate that terrorism and talks cannot go together.”

The comments came in response to Sharif’s recent appeal for a renewed dialogue with India, covering issues such as the long-standing Kashmir dispute, the Indus Waters Treaty, and broader bilateral relations. However, India cited the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, which led to a pause in treaty-level talks, as evidence of Pakistan’s continued support for cross-border terrorism.

Jaiswal emphasized that Islamabad must first act on India's demand to hand over terrorists who are on a list previously submitted by New Delhi. “They need to hand over to India noted terrorists, whose records and list we submitted to them some years ago,” he said.

On the question of Jammu and Kashmir, the MEA spokesperson was unequivocal: “Talks on J&K will be held only on the vacating of PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) and when Pakistan hands over the territory to us.”

Turning to the Indus Waters Treaty, a critical agreement for water-sharing signed in 1960, Jaiswal noted that it will remain “in abeyance till the time Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support to cross-border terrorism.” Echoing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s long-held stance, he added, “Terror and talks cannot go together, terror and trade cannot go together, and water and blood cannot flow together.”