ISLAMABAD: After a gap of more than two years, the foreign secretary level talks between Pakistan and India are all set to resume from Tuesday.
Indian foreign secretary, Subramanyam Jaishankar, is arriving in Islamabad on a two-day trip tomorrow to hold the dialogue.
Pakistan and India had last held the formal round of talks on September 8, 2012 which saw the then foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar coming to table with her Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna. Since then efforts were made several times to hold the next round of talks but in vain.
The foreign secretaries of the both countries had also held a session of talks on September 7, 2012. But, the next round of talks which was scheduled to be held in January 2013 could not be held following the incidents of Indian aggression at the Line of Control.
Pakistan and India had agreed to resume the secretary level talks two-months after the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited New Delhi in May 2014 to participate in the inauguration of his counterpart Narendra Modi on the latter’s invitation.
It was agreed that the dialogue would resume in Islamabad on August 25, 2014. But, India cancelled the talks following the Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit’s meeting with Kashmiri leaders.
Later, Indian PM Narendra Modi using cricket diplomacy telephoned Nawaz Sharif on February 15, 2015 and indicated India’s willingness to resume the process of foreign secretary level talks.
Pakistan welcomed the Indian move and now it hopes to discuss all the outstanding issues between Islamabad and New Delhi.