Indian foreign secretary to visit Pakistan next week
Jaishankar will hold crucial talks with his Pakistani counterpart
Indian foreign secretary, S. Jaishankar. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
ISLAMABAD:
India’s foreign secretary is expected to arrive in Islamabad next week in a move that may help the two neighbours resume their stalled peace process.
A Foreign Office official confirmed to The Express Tribune on Tuesday that the top Indian diplomat, Subramanyam Jaishankar, or more commonly S Jiashankar, would be visiting Islamabad in the first week of March.
He will be touring Pakistan as part of his trip to member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc). However, the Saarc card is apparently being used by the Indian government for domestic compulsions.
It is believed that US President Barack Obama played a crucial role in persuading Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to re-engage with Pakistan. On February 13, Modi telephoned Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and conveyed to him that he was sending the foreign secretary to all Saarc countries, including Pakistan.
The Indian foreign secretary will hold crucial talks with his Pakistani counterpart, Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry. Agenda of the talks is being finalised, according to Foreign Office officials.
All issues, including the future of the composite dialogue, will be discussed, they said.
Jiashankar’s visit is seen as a significant development as this may help ease tensions between the two archrivals.
India cancelled the foreign secretary level talks in August last year at the last moment after Pakistan’s envoy met Kashmiri separatist leaders in New Delhi. Islamabad has maintained all along since then that India will have to take the initiative for resumption of dialogue between the two countries.
Relations between the two countries have remained tense since the Modi government came to power with sporadic clashes along the Line of Control and working boundary between the two armies.
Pakistan has not only accused India of initiating the hostilities but also accused it for stoking militancy in the country. Recently, the chief military spokesperson publicly accused India of funding and supporting banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan as well as separatist insurgents in Balochistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 25th, 2015.
India’s foreign secretary is expected to arrive in Islamabad next week in a move that may help the two neighbours resume their stalled peace process.
A Foreign Office official confirmed to The Express Tribune on Tuesday that the top Indian diplomat, Subramanyam Jaishankar, or more commonly S Jiashankar, would be visiting Islamabad in the first week of March.
He will be touring Pakistan as part of his trip to member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc). However, the Saarc card is apparently being used by the Indian government for domestic compulsions.
It is believed that US President Barack Obama played a crucial role in persuading Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to re-engage with Pakistan. On February 13, Modi telephoned Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and conveyed to him that he was sending the foreign secretary to all Saarc countries, including Pakistan.
The Indian foreign secretary will hold crucial talks with his Pakistani counterpart, Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry. Agenda of the talks is being finalised, according to Foreign Office officials.
All issues, including the future of the composite dialogue, will be discussed, they said.
Jiashankar’s visit is seen as a significant development as this may help ease tensions between the two archrivals.
India cancelled the foreign secretary level talks in August last year at the last moment after Pakistan’s envoy met Kashmiri separatist leaders in New Delhi. Islamabad has maintained all along since then that India will have to take the initiative for resumption of dialogue between the two countries.
Relations between the two countries have remained tense since the Modi government came to power with sporadic clashes along the Line of Control and working boundary between the two armies.
Pakistan has not only accused India of initiating the hostilities but also accused it for stoking militancy in the country. Recently, the chief military spokesperson publicly accused India of funding and supporting banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan as well as separatist insurgents in Balochistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 25th, 2015.