No ‘formal agenda’ for NSA talks in Delhi

Two countries fail to agree on specific issues for the meeting

ISLAMABAD:

There will be no ‘formal agenda’ for the upcoming meeting between the national security advisers of Pakistan and India after the two hostile neighbours apparently could not agree on specific issues for discussion.

Terrorism-related issues are supposed to be discussed at the New Delhi meeting that is taking place in line with a decision taken at a meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in the Russia city of Ufa last month.

However, a senior Pakistani official disclosed that the agenda of the meeting between Prime Minister’s Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval will be ‘open ended’. The official, who asked not to identified, told The Express Tribune that the agenda has been kept open in order to allow both sides to discuss issues of their concerns.



This means Pakistan will not only raise India’s alleged involvement in unrest in Balochistan, Karachi and tribal regions but also press New Delhi to resume the stalled composite dialogue on all issues, including the longstanding Jammu and Kashmir.

Pakistan’s High Com­mission’s invitation to the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leaders for a meeting with Aziz indicates Islamabad will not put the Kashmir dispute on the back burner.

A Foreign Office source confirmed veteran APHC leaders Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and JKLF Chairman Yasin Malik have been invited to a reception hosted by Pakistan’s High Commissioner in New Delhi Abdul Basit. The move suggests that notwithstanding Indian government’s concerns Pakistan is sticking to its policy of meeting Kashmiri leaders.

Although, in the past New Delhi had allowed Pakistani officials visiting India to meet APHC leaders, the Bharatiya Janata Party government has taken a hardline stance on it. In August last year, New Delhi had cancelled scheduled foreign secretary level talks in protest after Pakistan’s high commissioner held ‘consultations’ with Kashmiri leaders.

There is no formal reaction from New Delhi yet but Indian media reports suggest the meeting of the national security advisers, scheduled for August 23 and 24, will go ahead.

Indian envoy summoned on LoC firing

As the two countries prepare for the crucial talks in New Delhi, there has been no let-up in fire-exchange incidents along the Line of Control (LoC) and working boundary.

According to the military’s media wing, the ISPR, a 70-year-old woman, Nooran Begum, was killed Wednesday when Indian troops opened ‘unprovoked’ fire in Nakayal Sector of Kotali along the LoC.

Hours before this latest incident, the Foreign Office summoned the Indian deputy high commissioner for the fourth time in less than two weeks to register a strong protest against ‘unprovoked’ ceasefire violations by Indian troops.

The Foreign Office said in a statement that a Pakistani civilian, identified as Muhammad Shareef, was killed as a result of ‘unprovoked’ Indian firing in Harpal Sector at the LoC. “Indian security forces also resorted to unprovoked firing at Jandrot, Nikhial and Karela Sectors, as a result of which one more civilian embraced shahadat and four civilians were injured,” it added.

The Indian envoy was conveyed Pakistan’s concern over unabated ceasefire violations by Indian security forces along the LoC and working boundary. Pakistan urged India to immediately stop these violations and observe the 2003 ceasefire understanding, the statement said.


Published in The Express Tribune, August 20^th, 2015.