Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Saturday
Pakistan had till tonight to offer twin assurances without which crucial talks scheduled for tomorrow in Delhi will not be held, said Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj this evening.
Kashmir cannot be part of the agenda; nor can Sartaj Aziz, the Pakistani National Security Adviser meet Kashmiri separatists in Delhi, the minister said, reasserting that India will not accept a "third party" to the talks.
Pakistani government sources told India that given those terms, the talks appear unlikely.
Mr Aziz is meant to meet with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval tomorrow and on Monday, the result of an unexpected agreement reached by Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of a recent summit in Ufa in Russia.
But the last few days have pushed the talks to breaking point, with both sides exchanging strong recriminations.
Ms Swaraj said it was decided at Ufa that the NSA talks would focus on terrorism and nothing else. A backlash to that in Pakistan, she said, had driven its government to insert Kashmir as a point of discussion.
Mr Aziz said today, "Pakistan is ready to hold talks without any pre-condition" but insisted that a discussion on Kashmir is not a last-minute addition.
Sources say that is Pakistan's way of daring India to cancel the conference.
Last year, India cancelled talks between Foreign Secretaries after Pakistan consulted Kashmiri separatists.
It's not clear how substantive the talks can be, even if they do take place. India will confront Mr Aziz with evidence of Pakistani-origin terror attacks. A Pakistani terrorist has been captured just weeks ago after he attacked a military convoy in Udhampur in Jammu. The Pakistani NSA will also be shown pictures to prove Dawood Ibrahim, one of India's most-wanted terrorists, lives in Karachi.
Pakistan, on the other hand, has said it will highlight India's alleged instigation of insurgency in its roiling Balochistan region.