Backchannel talks to improve the bilateral relationship between India and Pakistan have met a dead-end, as both sides have struggled to be on the same page.
A source familiar with the matter told Pakistani daily The Express Tribune that the "talks [continue,] but have reached a point where things aren’t moving anywhere.”
The source suggested that in April this year, there was a possible thaw in the relationship between the countries following the change of government in Pakistan and the election of a new prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif. India's PM Narendra Modi congratulated Sharif when the latter assumed office in April, citing a positive sign for rebuilding the relationships between the two countries.
The friction in the relationship prevented the Pakistani and Indian foreign ministers from interacting with each other at the recent meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.
Jammu and Kashmir was temporally given a special status under the Indian Constitution's Article 370. Under this, the state enjoyed quasi-autonomy which allowed the local legislature to make its own laws. It also prevented people from outside the state from getting state government jobs.
However, in 2019, the Narendra Modi-led government revoked the special status and turned the state into the federally-administered Jammu and Kashmir union territory. The government also separated the Ladakh region and declared it a separate union territory.