Sartaj surprises, arrives early in holy city
AMRITSAR: In a surprise move, Pakistan’s top diplomat Sartaj Aziz arrived in Amritsar on Saturday to attend a key meet of Asian leaders, advancing his trip by a day, even as New Delhi and Islamabad struggled to improve frosty ties.
It was also learnt that the bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghanistan president Ashraf Ghani could now take place on Sunday instead of Saturday, on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia conclave. The Heart of Asia initiative, launched in 2011, includes 14 countries including China and Russia and is aimed at encouraging economic and security cooperation.
Aziz, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ’s foreign policy adviser, was to arrive in Amritsar on Sunday to attend the ministerial meet on Afghanistan. However, there was no formal reaction from the external affairs ministry on the change in plan.
Aziz on Saturday night attended the dinner for the participants. Prime Minister Modi and Afghan President Ghani were also present. Aziz, during the day, sent a bouquet to external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj at her residence.
Ties between India and Pakistan have deteriorated sharply in recent months after a series of attacks on Indian military bases in Kashmir and Punjab, which New Delhi says have either been carried out by militants sneaking in from Pakistan or orchestrated by groups based there. Pakistan denies the charges.
Ahead of the Amritsar conference, India said cross-border terrorism cannot be the new normal in India-Pakistan ties, signalling in a hardening of posture against the neighbour.
However, surprises never eluded India-Pakistan ties which many times went against a predicted script including an unannounced visit of Modi to Lahore to meet Sharif.
The last two Heart of Asia conclaves had India-Pakistan bilateral meetings. In December 2015, Sushma Swaraj attended the Heart of Asia ministerial in Islamabad. And earlier this year, foreign secretary S Jaishankar met his Pakistan counterpart in the meeting of the senior officials grouping in New Delhi.
AMRITSAR: Years ago, Hamid Ansari believed love would set him free. Today, after spending ages in a Peshawar prison, he knows that isn’t always the case.
The parents of the Mumbaibased engineer have reached Amritsar in the hope that a meeting with Pakistani top official Sartaj Aziz would help secure his release. Though Ansari’s mother Fauzia has been running from pillar to post in her attempts to get him pardoned, she seems no closer to achieving her goal than the day he was arrested in November 2012. On Saturday, she was spotted carrying a placard stating: “Honourable Aziz saheb, you are here on a peace mission. Let mother meet son.”
Ansari was just 27 when he left for Afghanistan in search of a job on November 5, 2012. Later, his family came to know that he had fallen in love with a woman from Kohat in western Pakistan. The youth crossed the Pakistani border to prevent her from marrying another man, only to end up behind bars for forgery and illegal trespass. Police said Ansari was allegedly told by friends in Pakistan that entering the country from Afghanistan was a breeze. Ansari’s parents are being supported by the Hind-Pak Dosti Manch, an NGO.
His father, Nihal Ahmed, was equally fervent in his appeal for mercy. “We last spoke to our son on November 10, 2012. We are here to appeal to the Pakistan government that Hamid be freed because he has already served the three-year sentence imposed upon him. In fact, it’s almost four years now,” he told mediapersons.
Fauzia met external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj in August, and was assured all possible help from the Union government. “At least give us a Pakistani visa, so we can see our son,” she lamented.
ANSARI’S MOTHER FAUZIA WAS SPOTTED CARRYING A PLACARD STATING, ‘HONOURABLE AZIZ SAHEB...LET MOTHER MEET SON’