SAARC foreign ministers set to meet today amid Kashmir tension

New York, Sep 26: Amid strained relationship between India and Pakistan, foreign ministers of SAARC countries will meet in New York on Thursday.

The meeting on the sidelines of the UNGA holds signifcance as it could bring Jaishankar and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi face to face for the first time after the abrogation of Article 370 provisions.

Last year, then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had attended the SAARC Foreign Ministers meeting, usually held on the sidelines of the UNGA and left the meeting immediately after her remarks at the meeting and did not have any exchange with her Pakistani counterpart Qureshi.

Swaraj in a veild attack on the Pakistan had told the gathering that the scourge of terrorism remains the single largest threat to peace and stability in the South Asian region and it is necessary to eliminate the ecosystem of its support.

The SAARC bloc Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were present at the meeting.

In a stren message, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that India has no problem talking to Pakistan but it has a problem talking to Terroristan.

Jaishankar also that revoking Article 370 has no implications for India's external boundaries.

"We are sort of reformatting this within our existing boundaries. It obviously drew a reaction from Pakistan, it drew a reaction from China. These are two very different reactions. I think, for Pakistan, it was a country which has really created an entire industry of terrorism to deal with the Kashmir issue. In my view, it's actually bigger than Kashmir, I think they have created it for India, Jaishankar said.

Jaishankar stressed that India has no problem talking to Pakistan. But we have a problem talking to Terroristan. And they have to be one and not be the other, he said.

Jaishankar underlined that revoking Article 370 has no implications for India's external boundaries.

Pakistan downgraded diplomatic relations with India and also expelled Indian High Commissioner after New Delhi revoked the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir on August 5.