Swaraj is expected to call on Sharif besides meeting with the Prime Minister’s Adviser on foreign affairs, Sartaj Aziz, on the sidelines of the Islamabad conference.
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A regional conference hosted by Pakistan with focus on Afghanistan started here, on Tuesday, where External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will represent India at the ministerial-level meeting on Wednesday.
Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj’s Islamabad visit tomorrow will reveal the extent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s willingness to talk to Pakistan 18 months after coming to power, despite setbacks nearly certain in ties between the neighbours, senior officials have signalled. U.S. also welcomed Pakistan’s hosting of Heart of Asia Conference and Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj’s participation in it. Calling the government’s decision to hold high-level talks without informing the country’s parliament as disrespect, opposition lawmaker and former foreign minister Anand Sharma said: “Parliament should have been informed and still should be informed regarding the whole matter”.
Before Paris, Modi and Sharif had held bilateral meeting in Russian city of Ufa where they decided that their NSAs would meet to discuss all “terror-related” issues.
Upon her return from Islamabad on December 10, Swaraj will be making a statement on the latest developments that have taken place in diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan. The most recent was in August, when talks were canceled following a bitter disagreement on the agenda and due to India’s vociferous objections to a planned meeting between Pakistani officials and Kashmiri separatists.
“For the first time, the Pakistani Army itself is on the board with India, which gives us an unbelievable opportunity to force the Pakistani Army indirectly to agree to curtail anti-Indian activities on the borders”, he added.
“India has softened its position, on the other side Pakistan has softened its position”. This will be the first visit by the NDA Government’s Foreign Affairs Minister to Pakistan since the new Government assumed office last May.
Modi walked up to Sharif, shook hands and sat him down for a chat in Paris last Monday on the margins of the Paris climate change conference.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since 1947, two of them over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which both claim in full but rule in part.
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According to the ministry, Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Pakistani counterpart Nasir Janjua discussed bilateral issues during the meeting.
