Normalising ties: India hints at resumption of composite dialogue

British PM to arrive in Pakistan today.

ISLAMABAD:

India on Friday hinted at the resumption of composite dialogue with the new Pakistan government to normalise ties between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid told reporters in Srinagar that the composite dialogue with Pakistan would be resumed after the new government in Islamabad settles down‚ and pending confidence building measures between the two countries are implemented.

“The atmosphere is good at the moment and let it improve further to be conducive for talks,” he added. Khurshid said there were some issues between the two countries on which expecting some quick progress was not possible.

His statement came the same day when India’s outgoing High Commissioner to Islamabad Sharat Sabharwal, in a series of farewell meetings with Pakistani officials, said his country would soon engage the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in dialogue.

Sabharwal on Friday paid a farewell call on President Asif Ali Zardari and separately met Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.



According to the official statement, President Zardari told the Indian envoy that Pakistan was committed to ‘friendly‚ cooperative‚ good neighbourly relations with India’. Zardari appreciated the efforts of the outgoing Indian High Commissioner for improving Pak-India relations during his four-year tenure in Pakistan.

A foreign ministry official said the two countries were finalising the roadmap for the next round of composite dialogue. Under the roadmap, senior officials from the two sides would discuss a range of issues including peace and security, Kashmir, trade and economic ties as well cultural exchanges.

The last round of composite dialogue took place last year with the culmination of talks at the foreign minister-level in September 2012. The third round of composite dialogue was supposed to start earlier this year but tensions between the two neighbours on border clashes delayed the process.

British PM due to arrive today

British Prime Minister David Cameron is due to arrive here today (Saturday) on a two-day official trip, the first by any foreign head of government following the landmark democratic transition in Pakistan.

During his stay in Islamabad, the British Prime Minister would meet President Asif Ali Zardari on the first-day of his trip. He will hold formal talks with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on Sunday where the two sides would discuss a host of issues.

A foreign ministry official said the two leaders would review the progress so far made in bilateral ties under the ‘Enhanced Strategic Dialogue’ the two countries had been discussing since 2011. The recent developments related to Afghan endgame would likely figure prominently during the talks. The British Prime Minister would get an opportunity to hear Pakistan’s new leadership’s view on the Doha process.

The officials said the British Prime Minister will also meet business leaders and discuss new avenues of bilateral cooperation for enhancing trade and investment. This will be Cameron’s second trip to Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 29^th, 2013.