Swaraj to visit Pakistan for multilateral conference

Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, meanwhile, is also expected to visit Islamabad on December 9 to attend a multilateral conference on Afghanistan.

Highlighting the importance of Pak-India relations, Aziz said various matters on resumption of composite dialogue process between the two countries will be discussed during talks with the Indian Minister.

Sushma will lead India’s delegation to the ministerial meeting, called the “Heart of Asia”, on Wednesday in Islamabad, India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Vikas Swarup said in a Twitter post.

On Sunday, foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India, aided by their respective national security advisers, discussed peace and security issues between the two countries.

On the talks at various levels between India and Pakistan, Mr Abdullah said it is “like cabs when it’s raining – don’t get one for ages and then suddenly 3-4 come around all at the same time”.

 India softened its position to broaden the Bangkok discussions, which “covered peace and security, terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir and other issues, including tranquillity along the line of control”.

Another report in the Dawn, “Swaraj’s visit to Pakistan attracts friendly fire”, said Swaraj had waded through intense friendly fire from her right-wing peers over the visit.

“We are expecting that the conference will set the stage for better relations not only with India but also with Afghanistan”, foreign affairs advisor Tariq Fatimi told state run Pakistan Television on Tuesday morning.

India and Pakistan today presented sharply different versions of the bilateral significance of Sushma’s trip, capturing the caution in New Delhi and the thrill in Islamabad over a trip the Modi government was unsure about just two days back.

Sunday’s breakthrough clearly indicates that Modi-Sharif meeting in Paris was more than a sudden encounter and “exchange of courtesies” as had been claimed by the Indian side although Sharif had told Pakistani media that he had a “good meeting” and “doors of dialogue should open”.

Cross-border firing along the disputed region of Kashmir have killed dozens of people from both sides.

The editorial went on to say that the inclusion of references to terrorism as well as Jammu and Kashmir will presumably have satisfied both sides.

The NSA-level meeting was originally scheduled for August in New Delhi according to an understanding reached during the Nawaz-Modi meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in the Russian resort city of Ufa in July.

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.