New Delhi, June 20: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday rejected media reports in Pakistan which claimed that India responded "positively" to Islamabad's offer for talks. The MEA said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar simply replied to their counterparts on receiving congratulatory letters and that there was no mention of talks in their responses.

"There is no change in our position. We wrote a letter under the established democratic protocol of replying to congratulatory messages. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was also given a reply. Our External Affairs Minister also replied to his counterpart," said MEA spokesman Raveesh Kumar. Imran Khan and Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi wrote congratulatory letters to their Indian counterparts for assuming office. Narendra Modi Holds No Meeting With Pakistan PM Imran Khan at SCO Summit; No Pleasantries Exchanged: Report.

"The letter said that a terror and violence-free environment is necessary for a normal and cooperative relationship with the countries. We only reiterated our stand in the letter. There was nothing in that letter that spoke about 'talks'," Kumar clarified. "We have seen the mentality of distorting facts in Pakistan media in this case, like how they distorted this simple straight-forward letter," he added.

On talks with Pakistan, the MEA spokesperson said: "I think we've made it clear time and again that Pakistan has to take action which is irreversible. Unless we are convinced that action has been taken on the ground and not the temporary action which we've seen several times in the past, we won't be fooled by some cosmetic action."

The relations between India and Pakistan witnessed a new low and saw even heightened military tensions after the ghastly attack carried out by the Jaish-e-Mohammed on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama, in which 40 personnel were killed. In retaliation, the Indian Air Force carried out air strike at JeM terror camp in Balakot on February 26. F-16 Was Used By Pakistan, IAF Displays AMRAAM Missile Part As Proof; All About The Evidence Presented by India (See Photos And Video).

A day after the IAF’s air strikes, the Pakistan Army Violated the Indian Air Space. In the engagement, one of Pakistan’s F-16 fighter jets was shot down. India also lost one Mig-21 Bison warplane in the dogfight.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 20, 2019 04:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).