India turns down Pak’s request for talks, says no meeting between Sushma, Qureshi at UNGA

New Delhi, Sep 21: India on Friday called off the meeting between External Affairs Minister & Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi that was scheduled to take place in New York later this month on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Upset over the killing of Jammu and Kashmir policemen, sources told News18 that New Delhi has declined Islamabad's request for talks.

Speaking to media, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, "It's obvious that behind Pakistan's proposal for talks to make a fresh beginning, evil agenda of Pakistan stands exposed & true face of new Prime Minister of Pakistan has been revealed to world in his first few months in the office.''

''Since y'day's announcement of meeting of foreign ministers of India & Pakistan, 2 deeply disturbing developments took place. Latest brutal killings of our security personnel by Pakistan entities & recent release of series of 20 postal stamps by Pakistan glorifying terrorists,'' he also said.

Three Jammu and Kashmir policemen, who were abducted in Shopian district on Thursday night, were killed Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists. Militants had kidnapped the three Special Police Officers (SPOs) and one police personnel after barging into their houses on Thursday.

India is also upset over Pakistan's decision to declare slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani as a "freedom icon", according to News18. Pakistan also commemorated the "victims of atrocities by Indian troops in Kashmir" by issuing 20 special postage stamps which carry captions such as: 'Burhan Wani (1994-2016) freedom icon'.

The stamps carry photos of Wani and his two associates who were killed in a gunbattle with police in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir in July 2016.

On Thursday, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had said Swaraj will meet Qureshi on the sidelines of UNGA, but the date will be decided later through consultations. He also said that the meeting did not imply a resumption of talks between India and Pakistan, while adding, "This meeting is taking place on the request of the Pakistani side. We have not finalised the agenda of this meeting."