The mutual
agreement on venue and tentative date for the talks between the two Foreign
Secretaries, coincided with India appointing a new High Commissioner, Gautam H.Bambawale to Islamabad. Mr. Bambawale, India’s current ambassador to Bhutan, is
one of the experts on China-India ties in the Ministry of External Affairs and
is known to enjoy a good working relation with Mr. Jaishankar.
The meeting
between Mr. Jaishankar and Mr. Chaudhry will be the first stage of the
Comprehensive Dialogue Process which was announced by the External Affairs
Minister Sushma Swaraj during her visit to Islamabad earlier this month to
participate in the ‘Heart of Asia’ conference on Afghanistan. Sources say the
decision on Islamabad as the venue for the first Foreign Secretary level talks
came after some hard negotiations between the two sides but Pakistanis sent a
positive message by agreeing to India’s choice of Mr. Bambawale as the new High
Commissioner. However, Pakistan’s position on the Hurriyat Conference will be
watched in the run-up to the meeting between the Foreign Secretaries. In recent
weeks, Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit has met the Hurriyat leaders in
New Delhi. High Commission sources have told The Hindu that Mr. Basit is
expected to meet some more Hurriyat leaders before the New Year. The meeting of
the Foreign Secretaries will determine the way ahead for the structured
dialogue between India and Pakistan, which is expected to cover peace and
security, Confidence Building Measures, Jammu & Kashmir, Siachen, Sir
Creek, Wullar Barrage/Tulbul Navigation Project, economic and commercial
cooperation.
No comments:
Post a Comment