Ties with India: Pakistan seeks early date for foreign secretary talks

Islamabad notes Indian envoy’s policy statement

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan on Thursday sought an early date for the crucial foreign secretary-level talks with India after the latter’s envoy recently suggested that the meeting was not conditional to progress in the Pathankot attack investigation.

Speaking at his weekly news briefing, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Muhammad Nafees Zakaria said Pakistan had noted the policy statement given by India’s High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale.

“In view of the statement, it is our view that the date of the foreign secretary-level talks should now be decided as early as possible,” he told reporters.

The foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India were set to meet in the middle of January but the talks were postponed following an attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot. New Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad militant group.

The two sides at the time said the talks would be rescheduled in the near future. No announcement on the dates has been made since then with both Pakistani and Indian authorities saying that they are in contact with each other over the issue.

India is thought to be responsible for the delay as it was believed New Delhi wanted to proceed with the meeting after a clear picture from the investigation would emerge.



Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz also recently stated that Pakistan was ready to hold the talks any time and that India had to give a date for the parleys. The meeting of the foreign secretaries is crucial in the context of comprehensive bilateral dialogue the two neighbors agreed to resume in December during the visit of India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to Pakistan.

The foreign secretaries have been tasked with working out a roadmap for the series of meetings on a range of issues including peace, security, Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek, trade, tourism, water issues and people-to-people contacts.

Commenting on the arrest of Kashmiri students at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, the FO spokesperson said the people of Kashmir had never accepted the ‘unfair trial’ of Afzal Guru for his alleged involvement in the attack on India’s parliament. “Human rights organisations both in and out of India also criticised the manner in which Guru was tried and executed,” Zakria said.

Afghan peace process

During the briefing, Zakria said the Afghan government and the Taliban might meet by the end of this month. He said efforts to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table would be discussed during the forthcoming meeting of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group comprising Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and the United States. The group is scheduled to meeting in Kabul on February 23.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th, 2016.