India chose politics over peace: Pakistan Foreign Minister at UN

New York, Sep 30: Pakistan Foreign Minister Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday accused India of choosing politics over peace and calling off dialogue, scheduled to take place on the sidelines of the UNGA.

"The meeting between India and Pakistan could have been a good opportunity to have a dialogue on various issues. But due to their attitude, Indian govt lost this opportunity for the third time. They gave priority to politics over peace" Qureshi said.

Qureshi's statement came few hours after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that Pakistan glorified killers in a sharp takedown of the country.

Earlier in the day, Qureshi has said the Indian government is not engaging in talks with Pakistan because of domestic political compulsions.

"Why are they reluctant? Simply, sir, politics, elections...they are scared of their electorate. They have swung the pendulum to such an extreme, now they're finding it difficult to bring it back. And elections are round the corner, they felt that it could boomerang," he said.

Qureshi had targeted India after the Saarc meeting, accusing it of standing in the way of regional cooperation.

Swaraj and Qureshi were to meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly but India called off the meeting, citing the killing of three policemen in Kashmir and stamps glorifying militant commander Burhan Wani issued by Pakistan.