Sharif told Army Jindal meet was back-channel diplomacy

Indian Navy officer who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court over espionage charges.

India has denied Pakistan’s allegations and maintained that Jadhav was kidnapped by Pakistani intelligence agencies.

The report, quoting a ruling PML-N leader, said Sharif was tight-lipped about his meeting with Jindal. The only detail that he shared with his aides was that Jindal was making efforts to defuse tension between India and Pakistan, the report said.

It said the military leadership also took its officers into confidence about the nature of the meeting.

The Sharif-jindal meeting had triggered intense speculation with politicians and analysts suggesting that it could be the precursor to a possible meeting between the two prime ministers in the near future.

Sharif’s advisor on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz told reporters on Wednesday that if India showed interest, Pakistan would look into the possibility of a meeting between Sharif and Modi on the sidelines of the SCO summit on June 8-9 at Astana in Kazakhstan.

Earlier,imrankhan’spakistantehreeki-insaf had moved a resolution in the Punjabassemblyexpressingconcernover the “secret” meeting. It alleged that Jindal had conveyed Modi’s “message” to Sharif on the death penalty to Jadhav.

Jindal is said to have arranged the meeting between Modi and Sharif in Lahore on December 25, 2015, on the Pakistan Prime Minister’s birthday and the day when his granddaughter Mehrun-nisa’s marriage was held.