Indian, Pakistani security officials hold talks in Bangkok
Instead, Doval and Janjua referred to the brief Paris meeting between the Prime Ministers on the margins of the climate change conference there this past week.
Taken by surprise, Indian opposition parties questioned the government’s on-off approach to talks and a former foreign minister from Modi’s party said the policy was being conducted in the shadows.
“Talks were the only solution”, Aziz said.
Indian media quoting sources in New Delhi said secret talks lasted for four hours also paved the way for visit of Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to Islamabad on Tuesday to attend Afghan conference.
The fifth Heart of Asia Ministerial Meeting will be co-chaired by the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and Islamic Republic of Pakistan in Islamabad. This could also serve as the excuse for a India Pakistan summit.
There is, however, another heartening aspect of the new brand of diplomacy.
The Indian and Pakistani national security advisers held “cordial” talks in Bangkok Sunday on militancy and Kashmir, a joint statement said, as the two countries seek a thaw in frosty relations.
“The two countries have now found a way to get the process back on track”.
There are obviously several advantages of not allowing diplomacy turn into a made-for-TV event.
The Congress accused the government of making a fundamental departure from the position that it had taken in Parliament on India-Pakistan ties during the last session. Of course, there have been enough examples of the countries preferring a neutral venue to engage with each other when they find it hard to carry negotiations in surcharged atmosphere on their own soils.
Besides, America and the United Nations have been pressing India and Pakistan to return to talks.
“The talks with Pakistan have gone through a series of flip-flops and the current talks do not inspire much expectation”.
Secrecy, thankfully, has been the better part of diplomacy this time.
The Doval-Janjua meeting received mixed reaction in India, with one Congress leader questioning the Modi government’s apparent U-turn vis-a-vis Pakistan. Anti-India terrorist groups in Pakistan persist in their activities including planning for a spectacular attack in India as was revealed over the weekend[1], while the Indian Army continues to intercept groups of militants attempting to sneak in the Kashmir Valley from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.