New Delhi, September 22
As PM Narendra Modi garnered praise for his observations at Samarkand, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar fobbed off attempts to once again hyphenate India and Pakistan over Kashmir.
In a pointed gesture against Turkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raising Kashmir at the UN General Assembly, Jaishankar met Turkiye’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu and said he had discussed the Cyprus issue with him.
The Cyprus problem rose after the Kashmir issue but is equally intractable. It began in 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied the northern part of the country in response to a military coup on the island which was backed by Greece.
Erdogan, in his UNGA address, said, “India and Pakistan haven’t established peace… and this is much unfortunate and hope peace will be established in Kashmir.” His comments on Kashmir come a week after he had a surprise meeting with PM Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Samarkand.
