New Delhi: Pakistan on Thursday embarrassed itself as it made claims of a non-existent Russian offer to mediate between New Delhi and Islamabad.It all started with a report in the Pakistan media, which was followed by Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria officially welcoming the Russian “offer” of mediation. According to them, the “offer” was part of the conversation between Nawaz Sharif and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Astana on the sidelines of the SCO summit. Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria during a weekly media briefing said, “Pakistan welcomes Russia’s attention and intention to play a role in this long-standing issue on the UNSC agenda.”However, both India and Russia denied that Putin made any such offer.Responding to questions, MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay said, “No offer of mediation between New Delhi and Islamabad was made by Russia to India. It is my understanding that Russia is very well aware of India’s consistent position to address all outstanding issues with Pakistan bilaterally in an environment free of terrorism and violence.”Officials in the Russian embassy in New Delhi also rejected the reports and said it was Pakistan’s “wishful thinking”. “According to our information, this aspect was not discussed at the meeting in Astana and no statement in this regard was ever made by President Putin,” a Russian official said. Pakistan attempted to portray this as a sign of Russia changing its stance vis-a-vis this region, particularly showing more sensitivity towards Pakistan. It has not been an easy month for Pakistan. First, Nawaz Sharif travelled to Riyadh to meet US president Donald Trump. However, Trump refused to meet him. While in Astana, Sharif suffered the ignominy of not getting a bilateral with Pakistan’s chief benefactor, Chinese president Xi Jinping.Pakistan has been pushing India and all its other interlocutors to get India to restart bilateral dialogues. India has so far refused.
