NEW DELHI, India: The Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has said that India hopes the that Islamabad-New Delhi ‘Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue’ will mark a new beginning for peace and development in the region.
“India and Pakistan will engage in a comprehensive dialogue on all issues including peace, security and Jammu and Kashmir,” Sushma Swaraj said on Monday while briefing the Rajya Sabha about her recent two-day visit to Pakistan and talks with its leadership.
The Indian external affairs minister said that the renewed dialogue with Pakistan would be under the new title ‘Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue’.
“The underlying sentiment, on which I am confident that this House (Rajya Sabha) concurs fully, was that the continued estrangement of two neighbours was a hurdle to the realisation of our shared vision of a peaceful and prosperous region,” Swaraj said.
“We raised the issue of Mumbai 26/11 attacks probe and asked Pakistan to expedite the trial process,” she said.
Sushma Swaraj paid a two-day state visit to Pakistan on December 8-9 to attend the fifth Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process Ministerial Conference. On the sidelines of the Conference, she also held separate discussions with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his advisor on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz.
Later in a joint press conference at the Foreign Office in Islamabad following bilateral meeting between Sartaj Aziz and Sushma Swaraj, the two sides announced the resumption of the dialogue process to discuss and sort out all their outstanding issues under the new name “Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue Process.”
The scheduled bilateral talks at the national security advisors level between Pakistan and India had been called off after differences emerged over Kashmir issue earlier this year.
Sushma’s visit to Pakistan followed a briefing meeting between Nawaz Sharif and his Indian Counterpart Narendra Modi in Paris and talks between the national security advisers of both countries in Bangkok.
