Nepal rendezvous: FO confirms Aziz will meet Sushma

SAARC summit invitations to be handed out


Our Correspondent March 14, 2016
Advisor to Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz (R) shakes hands with Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj (L) after their meeting at the foreign ministry in Islamabad, Pakistan on December 9, 2015. PHOTO: REUTERS

ISLAMABAD:


The Foreign Office confirmed on Monday that Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz will meet Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Sawraj, as well as the foreign ministers of other South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) member states, in Nepal later this week.


Top diplomats of the region will be gathering in the picturesque city of Pokhara in Nepal on March 17 for the Saarc Council of Foreign Ministers’ meeting.

Pakistan, India may break the ice in Nepal

Amid reports that the meeting may help break the deadlock in Pakistan-India ties, a statement issued by the Foreign Office on Monday confirmed that Aziz will meet foreign ministers of Saarc countries, including India, on the sidelines of the Nepal meeting.

The statement, however, clarified that the purpose of Aziz’s interaction with Saarc foreign ministers will be to extend PM Nawaz’s formal invitation to member countries for the next summit.

“Aziz will meet foreign ministers of Saarc countries on the sidelines of the Saarc Council of Ministers' meeting on March 17, 2016, in Nepal to extend PM’s formal invitation to their respective heads of state, government for the 19th Saarc Summit,” the statement read.

UK urges Pakistan, India for uninterruptible talks

But it did not say whether the meeting between Aziz and Sawaraj would discuss the current impasse on the resumption of comprehensive bilateral dialogue.

However, sources maintain that the issue of Pakistan-India bilateral ties and the prospect of foreign secretary-level talks is likely come under discussion in the meeting.

Pakistan and India agreed to resume the comprehensive bilateral dialogue in December last year. Under the agreement, foreign secretaries of the two countries were scheduled to meet in January to draw up a road map for a series of meetings between the two countries on a range of issues, including Kashmir, peace and security, Siachen, Sir Creek, water, and trade and commerce.

The two neighbours apparently hit a deadlock in resuming the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue after the Pathankot airbase attack that India claimed was carried out by militants from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) militant group.

Pakistan subsequently registered a case against the unnamed attackers in connection with the Phathankot attack and formed a joint investigation team to help India find the perpetrators of the incident.

India is believed to have been waiting for the outcome of Pakistani investigations before agreeing to the meeting between the foreign secretaries.

Bilateral talks not linked to Pathankot probe outcome: Indian HC

Sources say the meeting between Aziz and Swaraj in Nepal may pave the way for the foreign secretary-level talks as well as for the Pakistani investigation team’s visit to India for collecting evidence regarding the involvement of JeM in the Pathankot attack.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15th, 2016.

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