Pakistan-India dialogue: Foreign secretaries may meet in April

The date for resumption of talks will likely be announced after the meeting between PM Nawaz and Indian PM

ISLAMABAD: The foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India are likely to meet in April to draw up a roadmap for a comprehensive bilateral dialogue the two nuclear-armed neighbours agreed to pursue last December.

Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry and his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar were to meet in January but a terrorist attack on the Pathankot airbase led to the cancellation of the key talks.



Since then, the two countries have been struggling to reschedule the meeting between their top diplomats. India apparently linked the resumption of dialogue with the ongoing investigation Pakistan is currently undertaking in connection with the airbase attack.

Officials in Pakistan now claim the crucial foreign secretary-level talks are expected to take place in April after Pakistan agreed to send a joint investigation team (JIT) formed to probe the Pathankot attack to India later this month.



An official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The Express Tribune that Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Sawraj discussed possible dates for the foreign secretaries meeting. The official said New Delhi had asked Islamabad to first send JIT to India before the meeting of foreign secretaries. “Since this issue has now been settled, hopefully foreign secretaries will meet soon,” he said. He added that both countries were looking to find a way out of the current hiccup in ties. The date for resumption of talks will likely be announced after the meeting between PM Nawaz and his Indian counterpart.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 21^st,  2016.