Foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India met on the sidelines of Heart of Asia conference to break the ice over diplomatic deadlock, but no significant breakthrough could result in the meeting, reported the Indian media.
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The efforts to resume CBD at the Foreign Secretary-level hit a deadlock after the Pathankot attack that India said was carried out by militants from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror group. Jaishankar has conveyed to his Pakistani counterpart that there is a need for early progress in the Pathankot investigation and the 26/11 Mumbai trial.
The Express Tribune reported that Pakistan conveyed “its serious concerns to India over its spy agency’s involvement in subversive activities in Balochistan and Karachi as talks between the foreign secretaries of the two arch-rivals in New Delhi failed to break the stalemate in the bilateral dialogues”.
Pakistan said it raised “all outstanding issues” during the meeting including a dispute between the two countries over Kashmir.
“Another important bilateral for Foreign Secretary as he meets with his Pakistan counterpart Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry”, tweeted External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup.
Tuesday’s meeting between Jaishankar and Chaudhry, who is primarily here to attend the “Heart of Asia” conference, was the first formal interaction since their scheduled talks were deferred in the wake of the Pathankot attack in January.
Describing the discussions as “frank and constructive”, India said humanitarian issues including those pertaining to fishermen and prisoners, and people to people contacts including religious tourism were also covered.
During his meeting with Jaishankar on the sidelines of Heart of Asia Conference in New Delhi, Aizaz Chaudhry stated that the Indian spy was being interrogated in the light of his confessional statement, thus, consular access can not be granted as it is matter of the national security, sources told.
However, a senior MEA official said India resisted Pakistan’s arguments saying the “matter is under investigation”.
According to Zakaria, during Tuesday’s talks, Islamabad sought early resumption of the comprehensive bilateral dialogue between the two south Asian neighbours.
Pakistan was today guilty of a breach of protocol during foreign secretary talks with India as it released a statement while the dialogue was still on.
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“The two Foreign Secretaries exchanged ideas on taking the relationship forward and agreed to remain in touch”, the statement added. Islamabad also sent five investigators to India in March to probe the attack.
