After dillydallying for days, Pakistan on Thursday confirmed that talks between its National Security Advisor (NSA) and his Indian counterpart will take place in New Delhi on August 23. The decision to have NSA-level talks to restart the composite dialogue process was taken by Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif in Ufa, Russia in July. India, however, said it is yet to get official confirmation about the talks.
With two terrorist strikes in Gurdaspur and Udhampur besides a spurt in ceasefire violations along the International Border (IB) and line of Control (loC) in the last few weeks casting a shadow on the talks, Pakistani NSA Sartaj Aziz said in Islamabad: “Yes, I can confirm that I will be going to India on August 23 for talks.”
However, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in New Delhi “on NSA talks, we have no confirmation (from Pakistan),” when asked about the Pakistani NSA’s statement.
Aziz’s announcement to go ahead with talks with Indian NSA Ajit Doval came amidst reports that the all-powerful Pakistan Army was not in favour of talks as it was unhappy over non-inclusion of Kashmir in the statement issued after the Modi-Sharif meeting in Ufa on July 10. The nod for NSA-level talks was given by Sharif who returned to Islamabad on Wednesday night after a three-day visit to Belarus.
According to the Ufa statement, the two sides agreed on a “meeting in New Delhi between the two NSAs to discuss all issues connected to terrorism.” The two countries also agreed to hold talks between chiefs of Border Security Force (BSF) and Pakistan Rangers followed by a meeting between Directors-General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two armies.
Aziz said: “Our Prime Minister has always believed in dialogue. It was India which suspended the meeting which was scheduled between the two Foreign Secretaries on August 25 last year. And then at India’s request the two Prime Minister’s met in Ufa, Russia, on July 10 and they agreed that the two NSAs will meet in Delhi.”
Hinting that nothing substantial was expected to come out of the talks, Aziz told reporters in Islamabad “It (upcoming meeting) is not a breakthrough in terms of composite dialogue on all issues. But at least it is ice-breaking on some issues. And let us hope that it would lead to further more comprehensive dialogue on all the issues between the two countries. So we do believe in dialogue to resolve the issues.”
A Pakistani Foreign Office official had said some days ago that Pakistan is aware of India’s agenda to highlight the issue of terrorism and planning is being done to counter it. With India suffering two terror attacks in Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir in the recent past, Doval is expected to make India’s case forcefully in the talks over the issue, including the alleged involvement of Pakistani nationals in these attacks and bail to 26/11 accused Zakiur Rehman lakhvi.
India arrested a Pakistani national Mohammad Yakub Naved for carrying out an attack on a BSF convoy in Udhampur though Islamabad has denied that the attacks were perpetrated by terrorists who had infiltrated from its territory.
Moreover, 19 ceasefire violations along the India-Pakistan border in July claimed four lives including three Indian soldiers as Pakistani troops had targeted forward Indian posts on the IB and loC.