Security officials from India and Pakistan hold talks, signaling resumption of

Foreign Office also stated that the two countries agreed to carry forward the constructive engagement. The statement said they were guided by the vision of the two leaders for a peaceful, stable and prosperous South Asia.

The two sides reportedly met for four hours.

Today’s meeting marks a departure from India’s position on NSA-level talks since Modi and Sharif met in Ufa on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in July.

The sources further said the security advisers will meet again.

It is also learnt that the agenda for this meeting was cleared by the top leadership of both countries.

India needed talks to be on terrorism, which it was.

Nasser Khan Janjua (left) with Ajit Doval in Bangkok on Sunday.

Unlike India’s shift, however, Pakistan can revert to its demand for a meeting with Kashmiri separatists if any future talks are planned in India.

Expect external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to be in Islamabad on December 8-9 for attending the 29-nations Heart of Asia conference on Afghanistan.

Indian media also quoted official sources saying Sushma was all set to travel to Pakistan on Tuesday. The Foreign Secretaries of both countries were also present in the meeting. Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, however, welcomed the talks. However, Nawaz would not say what exactly was discussed in the meeting.

While India considers Pakistan-backed terrorism as a key issue in the normalization of bilateral relations, Islamabad wants the focus on Jammu and Kashmir, whose ownership it contends.

India’s engagement with Pakistan comes at a time when Indian newspapers have reported warnings by intelligence agencies of suicide attacks by the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist group-blamed for the 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai. “Modi government has, however, neither spelled out the specifics nor the framework for engagement with Pakistan or taken Parliament or political parties into confidence”, Congress leader R. S. Surjewala said in a statement.