Indo-Pak dialogue: Interior secretary level talks on March 28 in Delhi

ISLAMABAD:

The interior secretaries of Pakistan and India will meet in New Delhi on March 28 and 29, said Foreign Office Spokesperson Tehmina Janjua.

At the weekly briefing of the Foreign Office, Janjua said that Pakistan will approach the upcoming talks with India with an open mind and a constructive spirit to ensure an uninterrupted dialogue process with its neighbour.

“Pakistan believes that dialogue, which is uninterrupted and uninterruptable, is the only way forward,” she said, adding that the officials would discuss issues pertaining to terrorism, the narcotics trade and other humanitarian issues.

The commerce and trade secretaries of both countries will meet in Islamabad next month while Indian and Pakistani foreign secretaries and foreign ministers will meet in July in New Delhi.

Middle East protests

Janjua said that Pakistan was greatly concerned over regional stability in North Africa and the Middle East. “Pakistan supports the reconciliation and dialogue process initiated by the government of Bahrain,” she said.

Speaking about security forces entering Bahrain, she said that it was an internal decision of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the government of Bahrain.

“We are discussing security issues for Pakistanis living in Bahrain with that country’s government,” she said. “As many as 65,000 Pakistanis live in Bahrain and work in different fields, including the police force.”

Janjua said that so far 5,322 Pakistanis have been repatriated through special flights. However, she said, due to a no-fly zone in Libya it is not possible to arrange flights but if Pakistanis are still interested, they could migrate to states nearby where Pakistani missions will be able to help them.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 25^th, 2011.