Pak officials hope FS-level talks will infuse life in ties

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan officials today hoped the talks with India’s Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar tomorrow will lead to a resumption of the Indo-Pak dialogue even as they termed as “speculative” media reports that Pakistan would propose new confidence-building measures during the meeting.

Islamabad, March 2

Pakistan officials today hoped the talks with India’s Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar tomorrow will lead to a resumption of the Indo-Pak dialogue even as they termed as “speculative” media reports that Pakistan would propose new confidence-building measures during the meeting.

Jaishankar, who started his “SAARC yatra” on Sunday with Bhutan and visited Bangladesh today before he flies out of Dhaka to Islamabad tomorrow, will hold talks with his counterpart Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhary and later call on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

“We have noted that visit is in the context of SAARC. However, when the Foreign Secretaries meet, bilateral relations would be discussed. We expect this interaction would lead to resumption of the dialogue process,” Pakistani officials said.

Asked about a media report that Pakistan was expected to propose a series of new confidence-building measures, including the restoration of the 2003 ceasefire agreement to end hostilities along its border with India, they said it was “just speculation.”

Taking a cautious approach towards the outcome of the meeting, which comes seven months after India cancelled foreign secretary-level talks, Indian officials have maintained that tomorrow’s interaction would be primarily to explore how to take forward the “process of normalisation” between the two countries.

India had cancelled foreign secretary-level talks because the Pakistan High Commissioner in New Delhi held consultations with Kashmiri separatists. However, earlier this month, using cricket diplomacy Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Sharif and also told him about Jaishankar’s “SAARC yatra”.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) — an economic and geopolitical grouping of eight countries located in South Asia — includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka as its members.

Ahead of talks, Indian officials had made it clear that India “stands ready to talk with Pakistan in accordance with the Simla Agreement on all issues including Jammu & Kashmir” but maintained that it was not expecting any dramatic results from tomorrow’s visit. — PTI