ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The resumption of comprehensive bilateral talks between Pakistan and India may have to wait for a little more time as according to sources, the first official meeting at Foreign Secretaries level is likely to be delayed.
The talks were scheduled to be held in Islamabad on January 14 under a joint agreement reached in Islamabad on December 9 last year when the Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrived in Islamabad to participate in the Heart of Asia Conference.
پاک بھارت سیکرٹری خارجہ کے درمیان 14 جنوری کو ہونے والی ملاقات مؤخر کیئے جانے کا امکان https://t.co/NWmJSmMTfu pic.twitter.com/Iahtwu41lK
— Geo News Urdu (@geonews_urdu) January 4, 2016
“The meeting of the Foreign Secretaries of Pakistan and India will be held in Islamabad in mid January. Exact date of the meeting and further details will be announced in due course,” the Foreign Office Spokesman Qazi Khalilullah told media at his weekly media briefing in Islamabad on December 31, 2015.
“As far as agenda is concerned, the Foreign Secretaries will work out the modalities and schedule of the meetings of various segments under the Dialogue, in accordance with the Joint Statement of 09 December 2015,” he added.
The reason behind the delaying of Pak-India foreign secretaries level talks has not been revealed yet but the recent terrorist attack at the Pathankot Indian Air Force (IAE) Base in Indian Punjab can possibly be the major reason.
On January 2, a group of seven unknown terrorists in army uniforms attacked the IAF base in Pathankot. As of now, according to reports, 11 persons including a lieutenant-colonel with six members of Indian security forces and four militants had been killed. Following the attack, a section of India media and security officials, accused Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) of being behind the attack.
However, Pakistan on its part strongly condemned the terrorist attack at the IAF base in Pathankot and reiterated its commitment to partner with India as well as other countries in the region to completely eradicate the menace of terrorism afflicting our region.
Earlier on December 8, the arrival of Sushma Swaraj in Islamabad helped to a large extent in easing the tension between two arch rivals as her meetings with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his advisor on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia Conference concluded with the announcement of resumption of bilateral dialogue process which had earlier been halted over Kashmir issue.
The normalization of Pak-India relations was further helped by the visit of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Lahore on December 25. In bilateral discussion between Modi and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, both sides agreed to remain committed to reviving the bilateral dialogue process.
