New York, September 26
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today said Pakistan “spoiled the talks” by talking to Hurriyat leaders just before the Foreign Secretaries of the two nations were scheduled to meet in Islamabad last month.

“New (Narendra Modi) government has given a new signal. So they (Pakistan) spoiled the talks, they spoiled the game,” Swaraj told Indian reporters after meeting the IBSA Foreign Ministers on the sidelines of the ongoing UN General Assembly session.

Swaraj was asked to comment on Pakistan’s National Security and Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz’s remarks that talks between the two countries could happen only if New Delhi took the initiative since India had cancelled the August 25 talks.

Swaraj said: “No question of first or second. As far as our reaction is concerned, we have said repeatedly that if a reaction had to come it had to come at this time only. The initiative was there from our side.”

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj being greeted by her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in New York on Thursday. PTI

She met her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, Brazilian Foreign Minister Luis Alberto Figueiredo Machado and Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali. — PTI