NEW DELHI : Two days before Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar embarks on the ‘SAARC Yatra’, India has made it clear that it was committed to strengthening the Nawaz Sharif-led civilian government in Pakistan.
“It is in our best interest to build up a civilian democratic government…neighbours can legitimise or delegimitise a government,” official sources said here today. The remarks came in the wake of reports about differences, tension between Mr Sharif and Pakistan Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif over the possibility of the resumption of the stalled dialogue between India and Pakistan. Mr Jaishankar would be visiting Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan from Sunday as part of his mission to give a new direction to India’s ties with its neighbours. However, the spotlight will obviously be on the Pakistani leg of his visit in view of the ongoing tension between the two countries ever since India suspended the scheduled Foreign Secretary-level talks in August last year.
The sources explained that Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit had virtually forced India to call of the talks in August by publicly holding meetings with Hurriyat leaders ahead of the crucial meeting between the two Foreign Secretaries. “We still think it was a stupid idea (Pakistan envoy’s talks with Hurriyat leaders)…we don’t think we over-reacted,” they added.
The sources said the Foreign Secretary was going with an ‘open mind’ to Islamabad and would discuss various issues with the Pakistani leadership. Mr Jaishankar is also expected to call on Prime Minister Sharif during the course of the visit. “There would also be discussions on SAARC since Pakistan will be the next Chairman of the grouping,” they said. Asked if India was now ready to re-engage with Pakistan because the BJP was set to form a government with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Jammu and Kashmir, the sources said there was no domestic angle to the proposal, emphasising that ‘co-incidences do happen.”
On the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) with Bangladesh which was yet to be ratified by Parliament, the sources said India was committed to implementing it.
“We signed the agreement four years back but it has still not been approved…it does not speak well of us,” they said. The sources indicated that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s recent visit to Bangladesh had gone off well. On Indo-US relations, the sources recalled that the ties were ‘down in the dumps’ just one year back in the wake of the treatment meted out to Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York in an alleged visa fraud case. There was a deep sense of frustration in both New Delhi and Washington. However, everything changed in September last year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the US and had a very productive meeting with President Barack Obama. Subsequently, Mr Obama visited India in January as the Republic Day guest. (AGENCIES)
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