India, Pak to commence ‘comprehensive’ bilateral dialogue

On Wednesday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Pakistan’s Adviser to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz had jointly announced in Islamabad that the two countries will resume the CBD soon.

Earlier Ms. Swaraj and the Indian delegation comprising Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and India’s envoys to Pakistan and Afghanistan called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at his office in Islamabad.

Citing this week’s successful talks in Bangkok, they also vowed to continue addressing all issues related to terrorism, according to the joint declaration. “Both sides have agreed to talk on all unresolved issues on the table”, Swaraj said, adding that the foreign secretaries of both sides would meet soon to discuss the modalities and schedule of the proposed meetings.

Responding to a notice of adjournment motion by Saugata Roy (Trinamool Congress) on the issue, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said Ms. Swaraj would make a statement in the House and the government was also willing for a discussion.

Pakistan is yet to grant the most favoured nation (MFN) status to India, that had to be accorded by December 2012, despite the fact that India granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in 1996.

She went a step further to say, “For its part, India is prepared to move our cooperation at a pace which Pakistan is comfortable with”.

The media in Pakistan and India has viewed the agreement on the revival of the Comprehensive Dialogue that will cover all outstanding issues as a major “breakthrough”. “Our bilateral relations with Pakistan are important, and they’re going to continue to be important, not just with the military but with the elected officials as well”, he said.

On Friday, Aziz gave detailed information to the Pakistan National Assembly about the proposed India-Pak talks, its format and the topics to be covered.

“Our allies agreed to work with us in this regard…to bring the reconcilable elements to the table”, Rabbani told a news conference in Islamabad on Wednesday.

The trip follows a trilateral meeting between Sharif, Ghani and British Prime Minister David Cameron in Paris where the three agreed on cooperation-based regional relationship.

The two prime ministers again had an impromptu meeting on the sidelines of the Conference of Parties (CoP-21) climate summit in Paris on November 30.