As NSA talks between India Pakistan called off, here's how media on both ends reacted

As NSA talks between India Pakistan called off, here's how the media on both ends commented

The media plays a big part in how information is relayed. However, sometimes, as in the case of India and Pakistan, the information is relayed rather differently.

After the back and forth between India's Foreign Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistan counterpart Sartaj Aziz ended in the latter calling off the NSA talks between the two neighbouring countries, media on both sides had much to say.

Here are some takeaways:

The Hindu - India

"India hit back with the strongest language of the day in a public statement issued by the MEA that accused Pakistan of trying to "evade its commitment at Ufa to engage in a substantive discussion on terrorism" with the "provocative" act of inviting the Hurriyat.

"In a departure from past statements on the subject, India drew a link between Pakistan and the terror attack in Udhampur and capture of Pakistani national Naved, saying that the issue "would have naturally come up in the NSA-level talks on terrorism, to Pakistan's discomfort."

The Dawn - Pakistan

"There's no point in talking about Kashmir. Not now. But there is a way to do it. And it's not the way Nawaz has gone about it.

"There were basically two things Nawaz had to play off each other in Ufa: terrorism and Kashmir.

"Either Ufa had to be kept vague or it had to have specificity that was not just Indian but Pakistani too."

On Nawaz Sharif: "He chose to be greedy. Or hasty. Or, sadly, just plain stupid. We've seen it twice now: he seems to have the vision, but he has no plan. Last time, last year, he was swatted away for being in too much of a hurry and getting Shahbaz involved."

Hindustan Times - India

"For Pakistan, the Hurriyat remains the only way to put a face to its stake in the Kashmir issue. But until this latest flap put the Hurriyat back at the centre of the row over Kashmir, the separatist conglomerate had been largely marginalised in the political space despite its capacity to shut down parts of the Kashmir Valley.

"For far too long, the Hurriyat has been represented by the same old faces - Ali Shah Geelani, Shabir Shah, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik - who have either trotted out the same old stated positions or have been happy to toe the Pakistani line.

"But while the Modi government has clearly enunciated what it won't tolerate during its engagements with Pakistan, there is less clarity on how it intends to take the stalled peace process forward."

The Express Tribune - Pakistan

"What is the nature of our nationalism here in India? It is anti-Pakistan and anti-China. We always have to be anti-Pakistan even if there is damage to us or no benefit to India in such a position (and there is zero benefit to India in not allowing old Sartaj Aziz to meet the blowhards of the Hurriyat).

"It was just assumed that because this was an India versus Pakistan issue, all Indians would or should back the government position.

"The assumption is that the lines have been drawn and the two sides have gone to battle. All of us, whether analysts or politicians or citizens or cricketers or housewives, must see the other side as an enemy and must reject everything it says or does even if we gain nothing from it. I am no longer able to subscribe to this stupidity."