De-escalating border tensions: Sartaj Aziz to meet Indian counterpart in Delhi next week

Diplomatic sources disclose both countries are already in touch to arrange the Aziz-Salman meeting.

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan and India are expected to hold crucial talks in the coming week as part of the efforts to de-escalate the mounting tensions along the Line of Control, officials told The Express Tribune.

The meeting is to take place between Prime Minister’s Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on the sidelines of Asia-Europe foreign ministers’ meeting in Delhi. Aziz would travel to India for the two-day conference on November 10.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry confirmed that Aziz would represent Pakistan at the meeting.

However, he did not mention whether Aziz would hold a bilateral meeting with Indian external affairs minister.

Diplomatic sources, nevertheless, disclosed that the two countries are already in touch with each other to arrange the Aziz-Salman meeting.

An official said the high-level meeting would discuss ways to implement the decisions taken during the New York summit.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Indian PM Manmohan Singh had earlier agreed to direct their respective director general military operations to work out a plan to restore 2003 ceasefire agreement.

Despite the agreement, both sides have failed to agree on a rare face-to-face meeting between the senior military officials to defuse tensions along the LoC.

The DGMOs’ meeting could not take place due to absence of a past precedence and New Delhi’s reluctance to resume dialogue process, commented another official.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4^th,2013.