Rajnath in Pak on Aug 4 for day

Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 28

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will travel to Pakistan to attend the SAARC ministerial conference on August 4. India, however, made it clear today that the minister’s visit was related to a multilateral event and that no bilateral meeting had been scheduled with his Pakistani counterpart.

Rajnath’s visit comes in the backdrop of increased tension between India and Pakistan. The dialogue process, stalled after the Pathankot attack in January, is yet to see revival. This will be the first senior-level visit by an Indian leader to Pakistan since January.

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Rajnath would raise the issue of Pakistan’s support to terrorism and question the pace at which the Mumbai trial and the investigation into the Pathankot attack were proceeding.

When asked about the possibility of a meeting between Rajnath and his Pakistani counterpart, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs said, “He is going for a multilateral event... there is no such proposal. He (Rajnath) is going for a multilateral SAARC event.”

The spokesperson also pointed out that India’s participation in the SAARC ministerial meeting should be looked at as part of its “neighbourhood first” policy and its commitment to “regional cooperation within SAARC framework”.

Pakistan’s comments on the recent situation in Kashmir had evoked a strong reaction in India.