India on Thursday denied it had sought talks with Pakistan, taking 48 hours to break its silence on a claim from Islamabad that went against New Delhi’s stated position that talks and terror don’t go together.

Moeed Yusuf, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s special assistant on national security division and strategic planning, had in an interview to The Wire on Tuesday said Pakistan had “got a message for a desire for conversation”.

Referring to this as the “purported message” while responding to questions at the weekly briefing, external affairs ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said: “Let me make it clear that no such message was sent from our side.” Yusuf had not given details, sidestepping the interviewer’s prodding for more information on who had communicated the message.

“There are multiple ways to get messages across. You will be embarrassed if I tell you,” he had said.

India’s foreign ministry, known for its promptness in countering remarks coming out of Pakistan, was relatively slow in responding this time. There was no explanation why it had taken the government 48 hours to counter Yusuf on a claim that turned India’s stated policy on talks on its head.

Sources, however, underlined that the foreign ministry was not always in the loop relating to major policy shifts.

On the interview in general and on Yusuf’s comments on India’s internal matters, Srivastava said: “As always, this is Pakistan’s effort to divert attention from domestic failures of the present government and mislead its domestic constituents by pulling India into headlines on a daily basis.

“The official is well advised to restrict his advice to his establishment and not to comment on India’s domestic policy. The statements made by him are contrary to facts on the ground, misleading and fictitious.”

Apart from emphasising Kashmiris’ sense of alienation after the abolition of Article 370, Yusuf had alleged that India was using its missions in Afghanistan to sponsor terrorism in Pakistan.

He alleged the use of India’s Jalalabad consulate by the handlers of the terrorists who killed more than 100 children at the Army Public School in Peshawar in 2014.

Srivastava sidestepped specific questions on Yusuf’s statement that Kashmiris should be part of any dialogue process.

He said that none of Pakistan’s actions in recent times had been conducive to “normal neighbourly relations”.

“Pakistan continues to support, aid and abet cross-border terrorism against India and has also been resorting to unprovoked ceasefire violations to support terrorist infiltration,” Srivastava said.

“The Pakistani leadership continues to indulge in inappropriate, provocative and hate speech against India.

Such support to terrorism against India and use of derogatory and abusive language are not conducive to normal neighbourly relations.”