India, Pakistan foreign ministers to meet on UNGA sidelines

NEW DELHI: India and Pakistan will have their first substantive engagement since their December 2015 abortive bid to restart the dialogue process in the form of a meeting between the foreign ministers on the side lines of UNGA later this month. Responding to queries on TOI's exclusive story Thursday that Pakistan PM Imran Khan had written to his counterpart Narendra Modi seeking a meeting between the foreign ministers, the external affairs ministry said India had accepted the offer at a mutually convenient date in New York.
The fact that the proposal came from Pakistan PM himself, in a letter delivered to Modi on Monday, allowed India to shed the hesitation it felt in considering the meeting. The government, however, made it clear that there was no change in its policy that talks and terror cannot go together and also, as spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, that the meeting should not be confused with resumption of the comprehensive dialogue process.
While Khan had also said in the letter that the possibility of holding an early Saarc summit in Islamabad could be explored, the government said that the atmosphere was still not conducive for it.
"There are a number of other countries who also believe that the summit can’t take place under the shadow of terrorism. We have only agreed to this meeting now and both sides will work out in the next few days how and when the meeting will take place," said Kumar, refusing to hazard a guess on the agenda for the talks.
TOI had reported as early as August 22 that the 2 ministers could meet in New York. However, there was no formal proposal for the same until Khan wrote to Modi. Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj will be in New York from September 24 to 30. The Saarch foreign ministers’ lunch is scheduled for September 27 but officials here did not confirm if the proposed meeting was going to take place the same day.
Sources here said though there was going to be no restriction on the agenda for talks and that foreign minister Sushma Swaraj was going to underscore India’s concerns on cross-border terrorism. Her counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi too can be expected to reiterate the significance of the Kashmir issue for Pakistan.
In his letter, in which he addressed Modi as Dear Modi Sahab, Khan recalled how former PM AB Vajpayee had contributed to ties and how he was a "major proponent’’ of a strong Saarc. He also clearly mentioned in the letter that Pakistan remained ready to discuss terrorism as he called for the 2 sides to peacefully resolve all outstanding issues, including J&K. He said his proposal for a meeting at UNGA was meant to build upon the mutual desire for peace between the 2 countries. Khan said the Saarc summit would also provide Modi an opportunity to visit Pakistan and re-start the stalled dialogue process.
Swaraj’s last significant meeting with a Pakistan leader was in December 2015 when she travelled to Islamabad for the Heart of Asia conference. After a meeting with Pakistan’s then de facto foreign minister Sartaj Aziz, the 2 sides had announced the resumption of dialogue under the new name of comprehensive bilateral dialogue (CBD). In keeping with that understanding, Pakistan wants Indian foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale to travel to Islamabad to discuss the modalities for talks under CBD.
The 2 countries have for several months now worked to maintain at least a semblance of contact in the form of efforts to address the humanitarian issues. Efforts by both high commissioners, Ajay Bisaria for India and his counterpart Sohail Mahmood, have resulted in release of prisoners by both sides at regular intervals.