Indian, Afghan officials in Pakistan for regional conference

She will lead the Indian delegation to attend Heart of Asia Conference in Islamabad, the two-day ministerial meeting on Afghanistan that begins today.

“Therefore, it has significance for India”, she said. “Since it is happening in Pakistan it is necessary and appropriate for me to meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and hold talks with my counterpart Sartaj Aziz to talk about improving the bilateral ties and take them forward”, Swaraj said.

The Indian government’s decision to send Swaraj to the Heart of Asia conference made the front pages of most of Pakistan’s leading dailies.

Aziz said there have been breakthroughs in dialogue with Afghanistan and India and the Pakistani relationship with the two countries would now further be strengthened. She is also scheduled to meet Sharif’s Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz.

In Islamabad, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will hold talks with Aziz and call on the Pakistani Prime Minister.

The fifth “Heart of Asia” conference, an annual gathering of Asian and other countries, is aimed at enhancing cooperation for countering security threats and promoting connectivity in the region.

The Nation also looked at the future of India-Pakistan cricket engagements, quoting its sources in the Pakistan Foreign Office as indicating that cricket ties between the two sides could soon be resumed.

The short bilateral cricket series between India and Pakistan will be held between December 24 and January 5 if the much-anticipated rubber gets the green signal from the Indian government this week.

Foreign ministers from 10 countries, including external affairs minister Swaraj, will attend the meeting.

In the meeting, the National Security Advisor briefed about his recent talks with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval in Bangkok, in which the foreign secretaries of both the countries were also present, the statement said.

Swaraj, who left for Pakistan late Tuesday evening, will be taking up “everything that is there on the table” such as peace and security, better management of border areas, Kashmir and Sir Creek dispute resolution and smoothening of trade and business ties, a top official who declined to be identified told BusinessLine.