Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
ISLAMABAD: The government said Thursday that it was working to fix a date for a meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said he will meet his Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz on September 13 in Kyrgyzstan during which they will try to schedule a meeting between their Prime Ministers in New York later this month, Press Trust of India reported.
While Pakistan had sought a meeting between Khurshid and Aziz, India has also verbally consented to the meeting, sources said.
Deadly skirmishes across the de facto border in Kashmir have jeopardised plans for the meeting in New York, which would come months after peace talks again stalled between the two neighbours.
Since winning an election in May, Nawaz has been vocal in his desire for better relations with India, but the recent flare-ups have overshadowed the prospects.
Foreign ministry spokesman Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said the meeting would be "a useful opportunity to engage in constructive dialogue" and resume stalled peace talks.
"The date of the meeting is being worked out," he told a news conference.
"Pakistan has always supported the policy of restraint, responsibility and dialogue in the larger interest of peace in the region," Chaudhry added.
Skirmishes across the heavily militarised Line of Control have killed six Pakistanis and five Indian soldiers since August 5.
Delhi blamed the deaths of the five Indians on August 5 on the Pakistan Army, but Islamabad denied any responsibility.
A deadly flare-up along the LoC in January brought a halt to peace talks that had only just resumed.
Discussions were suspended for three years after the 2008 attacks in Mumbai which killed 166 people.
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@Israeli Indian: Kashmiris are a 95% Muslim majority nation which in all justice and fairness should have been a part of Pakistan. India invaded and now suppresses Kashmiris daily. I am a Kashmiri, and I, like the rest of my people, want to be part of Pakistan. This is the permanent demand of Kashmiris for 66 years.
Good sense prevailed.Talking is good, but walking the talk is better.
No thanks....we Indians dont want all these...just give us our POK and gilgit baltistan........
Good move, its a good step. There are some elements who doesn't want this peace talk since this will undermine their effort to destabilize any peace process.
NS, please work on the promises you made publicly at Karam Thapar's TV interview ....... thorough investigation of Mumbai attacks and bringing the culprits of Mumbai attacks to justice. Also work on investigating the conversion of hindu girls in Pakistan. You have all facts and figures in the NADRA records itself. You do not need a costly or time consuming investigation, nor do you need India for a joint probe. This can be competed in 3 - 4 weeks, if you are sincere and really wish to find out. Just find out how many hindu girls were converted over the last 30 - 40 years (though this has been going on for over 65 years and is still continuing), what were their ages when they were converted, to which muslim families these abducted girls were taken to after their abduction and prior to their conversion, how long they remained married to the muslim man who converted her, how long she stayed with the muslim family that abducted and converted her, where is she now, what is she doing now, how many children did she have with the muslim man she married, and what are the children doing now. Please publish a detailed report on these and not fold up like the fake Chandio Commission. You know it is not the mullas who were practicing these "shameful" acts and it is the good muslim families (entire muslim families and even the female members of the family joining together against the girl) that have been doing it. The fact that entire muslim families were supporting and participating in these acts is a major cause of the moral decay and the deplorable condition of even muslim woman in Pakistan today. As this was not the mullas but the normal muslim families that were doing it the terrorists and religious parties will not oppose any probe of NADRA records. This will also be an eye opener for many Pakistanis that many normal muslims were practicing these immoral acts in their homes and passing on the blame for their pervertedness on to the madrassas and mullas. Every muslim home teaches their children that it is their duty to convert non-muslims and as long as this belief and practices exist nothing good will happen.
It is in the ever best interest of both countries and region especially to in stable normal, peaceful relations. Fighting and blaming each other and propagating enmity is highly destructive for both countries. Peaceful relation with neighboring countries , Afghanistan, India, Russian, China, Middle East and Iran is in the best interest for all.
expect more fireworks on LoC