Thaw in ties after Imran writes to Modi
FOREIGN MINISTERS OF INDIA, PAKISTAN TO MEET ON SIDELINES OF UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Breaking the ice in ties with Pakistan, India yesterday agreed for a meeting between foreign ministers of the two countries in New York later this month.
The thaw came in the wake of a letter by new Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in which he had sought a meeting between India’s Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly that begins later this month in New York.
“I can confirm that on the request from the Pakistani side a meeting between the two foreign ministers will take place on the sidelines of the UNGA at a mutually convenient date and time.
“We have just agreed to the meeting. The Permanent Missions of both India and Pakistan will together work out the details. Till then, what will be discussed in the meeting, we will have to wait till the meeting takes place,” External Affairs Ministry (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told the weekly media briefing here, announcning the first such high-level interaction between the neighbours after three years.
Kumar suggested that the coming meeting was not resumption of the dialogue process. Imran’s letter to Modi was delivered on September 17 and on the same day a letter from Qureshi to Swaraj was handed over by the Pakistan High Commissioner in Delhi.
Imran in his letter to Modi sought to resolve outstanding disputes between the two nuclear-armed nations, including the issue of the divided region of Kashmir, a Pakistani official said yesterday.
Imran’s letter to Modi was delivered on September 17 and on the same day a letter from Qureshi to Swaraj was handed over by the Pakistan High Commissioner
The issue of Pakistan opening the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara corridor will feature at the meeting between India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session later this month, a senior Indian official said yesterday.
India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that the Minister of Food Processing Harsimrat Kaur Badal recently wrote to Swaraj, seeking action on the Kartarpar corridor opening, to which Swaraj replied that she will take up the issue with the Pakistan government.
“Even now, after so many years, we do not have any official communication from the Pakistani government that they are willing to consider this matter,” Kumar said.
Last month, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh sought Swaraj’s intervention in seeking access from the Pakistan government for Sikh devotees to visit the historic gurdwara in Kartapur on the 550th birth anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak Dev.
Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Imran Khan has written to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, the Foreign Office said here yesterday, seeking to restart bilateral talks on key issues “challenging the relationship” including on terrorism and Kashmir.
‘Mutual desire’
In the letter dated September 14, the cricketer-turned-politician who became prime minister last month, wrote: “Building on the mutual desire for peace between our two countries, I wish to propose a meeting between Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmoud Qureshi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, on the sidelines of the upcoming UN General Assembly in New York,” Khan wrote.
Pakistan and India have an “undeniably challenging relationship”, he said, while responding to Modi’s letter to him on August 18.
In the letter to Khan, Modi conveyed India’s commitment to pursue “meaningful” and “constructive” engagement with Pakistan and emphasising the need to work for a terrorfree South Asia. “We, however, owe it to our peoples, especially the future generations, to peacefully resolve all outstanding issues, including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, to bridge differences and achieve a mutually beneficial outcome”.
The two ministers (Qureshi and Swaraj) could explore the way forward, Khan said, adding that the SAARC Summit in Islamabad “will offer an opportunity for you to visit Pakistan and for us to restart the stalled dialogue process”.
It is at least for the third time when Khan proposed a formal dialogue with India after winning the elections.
First, he made the proposal in his victory speech in July followed by the first-ever address to the nation, after taking oath in August.
Ties between India and Pakistan nosedived following a spate of terror attacks on Indian military bases by Pakistanbased terror groups since January 2016. Following the strikes, India announced it will not engage in talks with Pakistan, saying “terror and talks” cannot go hand-in-hand.
Amid heightened tension with Pakistan over Uri terror attack in which 18 soldiers were killed, India also pulled out of the SAARC Summit that was scheduled to be held in Islamabad in November 2016, which was subsequently called off.