Top huddle discusses conference’s agenda

Nasser Janjua briefs meeting on progress made at the NSA-level talks held in Bangkok between Pakistan and India

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting to discuss the agenda of the Heart of Asia Conference that kicked off in the federal capital.

Besides discussing matters relating to the regional conference, the meeting at the Prime Minister House also talked about the upcoming visit of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who is expected to co-inaugurate the conference with Premier Nawaz today.

With the PM in chair, the huddle was attended by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif, National Security Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Nasser Khan Janjua, PM’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and PM’s Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi.

Nasser Janjua briefed the meeting on the progress made at the NSA-level talks held in Bangkok between Pakistan and India on Sunday. He told the participants of a framework under which the agenda of follow-up meetings between Pakistan and India would be devised, said a source in the federal government. Analysts expect the follow-up meetings would result in the resumption of the composite dialogue process that was suspended by New Delhi following the Mumbai attacks in 2009.

The NSA-level talks were initially scheduled for August in New Delhi, according to an agreement reached between Premier Nawaz and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in a meeting held on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in the Russian city of Ufa in July. Differences over the agenda and media hype, however, led to the cancellation of the meeting at the eleventh hour.

Regarding Ghani’s visit, the source said the Afghan president’s expected meeting with Nawaz would help normalise relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Tuesday’s meeting also discussed the possibility of reviving talks between Kabul and the Afghan Taliban.

Pakistan had brokered the first face-to-face meeting between Afghan government officials and Taliban representatives in Muree in July. A followup meeting scheduled for later that month was called off after Afghan officials leaked to the media news of Taliban leader Mullah Omar’s death two years ago.

Meanwhile, army chief Gen Raheel held a separate meeting with the prime minister on Tuesday. A statement issued by the PM House said the two discussed issues of national and regional security.

They also reviewed the progress of the military offensive Operation Zarb-e-Azb under way against various militant organisations. “The sacrifices of the army jawans, law enforcement officials and citizens will not be forgotten,” Nawaz was quoted as saying, “and the fight against terrorism will continue till its elimination.”


Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2015.