The much-delayed bilateral meeting between Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan will finally take place on Tuesday when the two officials are expected to discuss modalities of a Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue (CBD), progress on Pathankot terror attack probe and National Investigation Agency’s visit to Pakistan.
The meeting will take place on the sidelines of ‘Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process’ conference on Afghanistan at Hyderabad House on Tuesday evening.
However, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry is expected to hold talks with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar in the forenoon shortly after his arrival in New Delhi from Islamabad. Chaudhry will be in New Delhi only for a day during which he is also expected to meet Foreign Secretaries of some other countries.
Sources in the Indian Government said that though the talks between Jaishankar and Chaudhry will be all encompassing, the focus would remain on terrorism for India. In this regard, India would like to know the outcomes of Pakistan Joint Investigation Team’s visit to Pathankot and a possible visit by NIA to Pakistan in this connection.
The two Foreign Secretaries will also try to work out the modalities on how to go about CBD. “They may talk about how to go about the CBD,” said the source.
This will be first formal meeting between Jaishankar and Chaudhry after the announcement of CBD by the Foreign Ministers in Islamabad last December.
Jaishankar was to visit Islamabad in January but it got stalled due to the terror attack on Pathankot airbase by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists. However, the two foreign secretaries had an informal brief interaction during a SAARC meeting in Nepal in March.
The meeting comes in the backdrop of Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit’s recent comments that the bilateral peace process was suspended, evoking a sharp reaction by Indian side, which maintained that communication channels were on at various levels. It also made it clear it wants to see action on terror and Pathankot first before the dialogue could be resumed.
Announcing Chaudhry’s visit, the Pakistan Foreign Office in Islamabad said: “Pakistan is looking forward to active participation in the Heart of Asia meeting, reflecting our commitment to efforts for promoting long-term peace and stability in Afghanistan.” Pakistan had hosted the fifth Heart of Asia Ministerial Conference in Islamabad on December 9, 2015.