New Delhi rules out bilateral meetings with Pakistani officials on sidelines of Saarc

Indian foreign ministry says home minister to attend summit only

India has ruled out the possibility of any bilateral meetings between its home minister and Pakistani officials on the sidelines of the Saarc ministerial conference on August 4.

India’s Rajnath Singh is likely to travel to Islamabad next week for a one-day meeting of regional home ministers from countries belonging to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc).



On July 28, Pakistan’s Foreign Office hinted at the possibility of a meeting between Rajnath and Pakistani authorities, saying “there is an expectation of meetings on the sidelines on such occasions”.

On Friday, the Indian External Affairs Ministry made it clear there will be no such bilateral meetings when Rajnath travels to Islamabad to attend the Saarc meeting.

MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted: “Let me categorically state that home minister of India is going for [the] Saarc event. There will be no bilateral meetings with Pakistan.”



Rajnath’s visit will come in the backdrop of growing strains on Pakistan-India ties as tensions flare between the nuclear-armed rivals over unrest in disputed Kashmir.

The Indian minister will be the first high-level official to come to Pakistan since last December, when the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj travelled to Islamabad to attend a regional conference on Afghanistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 30^th, 2016.