Pakistan, India FMs avoid blame game in Dushanbe

Diplomatic sources say this is part of understanding between the two countries to lower the rhetoric

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan and Indian foreign ministers may not have met on the sidelines of Heart of Asia-Istanbul conference in Dushanbe but the top diplomats on Tuesday avoided pointing fingers at each other in their speeches in a clearest indication that the two neighbours are looking to lower the rhetoric.

The speeches by both the foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar, were a departure from their previous statements. Unlike, previous sessions of Heart of Asia conference, this time both sides avoided using the platform to cast aspirations against each other.

The Indian external affairs minister did not mention Pakistan in his speech that largely focused on supporting the peace efforts. Qureshi, too, only made a terse reference of “spoilers both within and outside Afghanistan’ but he didn’t not name India in his speech.

Diplomatic sources said that this was part of the understanding between the two countries to lower the rhetoric. Qureshi later told reporters in Dushanbe that there had been some movement on Pakistan, India relationship.

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He particularly mentioned the February 25 understanding between the director generals military operation of the two countries on restoring the ceasefire on the Line of Control (LoC). He said that this would benefit the people of Kashmir.

Qureshi also noted that the Indian foreign minister did not make the usual allegations against Pakistan in his speech. This, he believed, was a welcome development. Responding to a question, he said that he had no encounter or interaction with Jaishankar. “Pakistan never shies away from talks but for that India has to create a conducive environment,” he added.

There was lot of hype before the Heart of Asia conference since many were speculating that the two foreign ministers might meet. Both sides had denied that any meeting was scheduled or any side sought for the interaction on the conference fringes.

But the fact the two foreign ministers avoided blaming each other’s countries is something that observers think may lead to some level of engagement between the two countries.