He may be the same person but wears two different hats, says NSA Moeed Yusuf: Pak NSA on Imran Khan's flip-flop on trade with India. 'Normalisation of ties linked with India revisiting its 2019 decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir'. India has also told Pakistan that talks and terror cannot go together. India has declined to comment on Pakistan's flip-flop on limited imports of sugar and cotton from the country

New Delhi: Pakistan NSA Moeed Yusuf has said that Imran Khan as Commerce Minister approved a limited resumption of trade ties with India on March 26 but as a Prime Minister opposed the proposal six days later as “he may be the same persons but wears two different hats”.

Talking to a Pakistani news anchor, Yusuf termed Imran Khan’s decision as an example of the “strengthening of institutions.” 

Pakistan's Cabinet on Thursday rejected the proposal of a high-powered committee to import cotton and sugar from India with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi saying there can be no normalization of ties until New Delhi reverses its decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

India Declines To Comment On Pakistan's Flip-Flop

India on Friday declined to comment on Pakistan's flip-flop on plans to go for limited imports of sugar and cotton from the country with Arindam Bagchi, Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) saying “we are not the right party to whom this question should be directed at.”

Pakistan's leadership had toned down the rhetoric against India in recent weeks with Imran Khan and the military issuing regular statements signalling a desire to normalize the ties with New Delhi.

Last month, Pakistan Army Chief Jawed Qamar Bajwa said “it is a time to bury the past and move forward” and called for a stable relationship between India and Pakistan.

However, Imran Khan later said that India would have to take the first step for improving bilateral relations by addressing the Kashmir issue.

Pakistan Wants India To Reverse Its Decision To Revoke The Special Status of J&K

Last month, India and Pakistan also held the annual meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) after a gap of more than two-and-a-half years.

In February, India and Pakistan announced that they have agreed to a ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC).

Bilateral ties between the nuclear-armed neighbours nose-dived after Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammed carried out the Pulwama terror attack. India responded by bombing JeM terror camps in Balakot.

India’s decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 also angered Pakistan and in response, it downgraded diplomatic ties and expelled the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad.