NEW DELHI, July 23:
Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan will meet on August 25 in Islamabad to discuss the way forward in bilateral ties, which have made no headway since the interruption of dialogue process nearly two years ago.
A simultaneous announcement about the meeting was made from New Delhi and Islamabad today after Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh and her Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry had a telephonic conversation.
An understanding that the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries will be in touch to see how to move forward on bilateral relations had been reached during the visit of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif here in May to attend the swearing-in of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two leaders had a “constructive” bilateral meeting for 45 minutes, a day after the ceremony.
Announcing the decision to hold Indo-Pak Foreign Secretaries meet, the Spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry here said, “The two foreign secretaries had… A telephonic discussion and as part of that discussion they also discussed how they should move forward. And based on that telephonic conversation, they agreed that they will meet in Islamabad on August 25.”
The Spokesperson noted that since there have been incidents of firing along the international boundary, Foreign Secretary Singh used the opportunity to raise the issue.
Singh said “incidents of this nature will impede the positive work” that the political leaders of both the countries wish to undertake, according to the Spokesperson.
“She also reiterated that meaningful cooperation between the two countries cannot take place alongside violence and the sound of bullets on the border. To us and Pakistan, the maintenance of peace and tranquillity on the Line of Control is one of the most important Confidence Building Measures (CBMs),” he said.
Asked about the status of proposed gas pipeline between India and Pakistan, the Spokesperson did not give a direct reply and said the first contact at a diplomatic level following the two Prime Ministers’ agreement happened today when Foreign Secretary Singh and her counterpart from Pakistan Aizaz had a telephonic conversation.
On whether the resumption of the dialogue process will be subject to stopping of firing along the LoC, he said it was too premature to comment on the matter.
In its press statement on the meeting, Pakistan Government said, “In keeping with the vision of the two Prime Ministers to improve and establish good neighbourly relations, the Foreign Secretaries agreed that the dialogue process between the two countries should be result-oriented.”
Meanwhile, the Government has initiated several actions from time to time for resolving the above issues emanating from the domestic and external factors, MoS for Home Kiren Rijiju said in Rajya Sabha.
“Towards the domestic front, the Government in tandem with the State Government adopted a multi-pronged approach to contain cross-border infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir, which includes, inter-alia, strengthening of border management and multi-tiered and multi-modal deployment along international borderline of control and infiltration routes, improved intelligence and operational coordination and pro-active action against the terrorists within the State,” the Minister said.
The Minister said that during bilateral talks held between the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan following the swearing-in ceremony of the Indian Government on May 26, 2014, “it was agreed that Foreign Secretaries of both the countries would get in touch to explore the possibility of how to move bilateral relations between the two countries forward.
“Our Prime Minister further emphasised the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity at the borders and upholding the sanctity of the Line of Control (LoC),” he said.
Further in the budget of 2014-15, introduced in the Parliament on July 10 2014, Rs 500 crore have been earmarked for rehabilitation of Kashmir migrants, he added.
Talking about JK further, he said in an another reply, so far, 2,264 Special Police Officers (SPOs) have been converted as constables/followers under Government policy.
“As per report, there is no proposal or policy under consideration of the State Government to consider Village Defence Committees (VDCs) for regularisation, as their nature of engagement is purely voluntary,” Rijiju said. (PTI)
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