New Delhi: Pakistan Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua has accused India of fostering a negative attitude which she alleged was not only unhelpful for the bilateral ties between the two countries, but was also stopping South Asia from making progress and attaining peace.

She accused India of perpetuating a “dynamic rivalry” and said that by refusing to attend the SAARC summit in Islamabad was holding the regional body’s summit process as “hostage”.

Speaking at a conference on 'Conflict and Cooperation in South Asia: Role of Major Powers' hosted by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), Janjua said that India was “spinning hatred”, Dawn newspaper reported.

She said that India tried to taint Pakistan’s gesture of opening the Kartarpur Corridor and spread negativity about it; however, Pakistan stayed the course.

She said that Pakistan will continue trying for peace and stability in the region.

She also pointed towards the S400 defence deal between Indian and Russia, and said that India is spending massively on force modernisation, while maintaining that Pakistan is not in any arm’s race in the region.

India which is a victim of several terror attacks has made it clear to Pakistan that talks and terror cannot go hand in hand.

The ties between India and Pakistan nose-dived in recent years with no bilateral talks taking place. The ties strained after the terror attacks by Pakistan-based groups in 2016, to which India had responded with surgical strikes inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The sentencing of alleged Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav to death by a military court in April over espionage charges last year further deteriorated bilateral ties.