India to step up efforts for Pak’s isolation at HoA

Amid heightened tension with Pakistan following yet another brazen terror attack on an army base, India is likely to step up efforts to corner it diplomatically and mobilize support for concrete action against state-sponsored terrorism at the two-day Heart of Asia (HoA) conference beginning here on Saturday.

Afghanistan, which has also been witnessing increased attacks from terror groups operating from Pakistani soil, is set to push hard for a regional counter-terror framework with binding commitment at the annual meeting of Heart of Asia Istanbul Process, a platform set up in 2011 to assist the war-battered country in its transition.

Top officials of the 14 member countries will meet tomorrow to discuss key challenges facing the region including from terror groups and explosre ways to bring lasting peace and stability to Afghanistan.

On Sunday, the main conference will be jointly inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani where both India and Afghanistan are likely to corner Pakistan on terror.

Pakistan Prime Minister's Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz will represent Islamabad at the conference and all eyes will be on whether an Indo-Pak bilateral meeting takes place on the sidelines. Ahead of Aziz s visit here, India had yesterday said it will never accept continuing cross border terrorism as the "new normal" in bilateral ties with Pakistan while making it clear that talks cannot take place in an atmosphere of "continued terror".

India had called for isolating Pakistan diplomatically after the Uri attack on an army establishment and it is likely to continue efforts in that direction at the Heart of Asia conference. At the BRICS summit in Goa in October, India had called Pakistan the "mother ship" of terrorism globally.

Aziz is scheduled to arrive here on Sunday and is expected to return the same day.