Swaraj to visit Pak; talks with Aziz, Afghan meet on table

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will travel for a multilateral conference to Islamabad on Tuesday, where she will hold talks with her Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz. Aziz had earlier said that the focus  of the talks would be on the resumption of composite dialogue process.

Swaraj’s visit comes two days after talks between the NSAs of India and Pakistan on Sunday in Bangkok. She will call on Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and meet his Adviser on Foreign Affairs Aziz on the sidelines of the Afghan meet on Wednesday.

In Islamabad, Aziz said that Swaraj is arriving on Tuesday to attend the ‘Heart of Asia’ Conference and during her visit she will also call on Sharif. He said the deadlock in Indo-Pak ties had eased to some extent. 

During his talks with Swaraj, Aziz said various matters with focus on the resumption of composite dialogue process between the two countries will be discussed.

Swaraj’s visit comes three years after former External Affairs Minister SM Krishna travelled to Islamabad in 2012 when the countries had also inked a visa liberalisation pact.

During her visit, Swaraj will be accompanied by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, who was also present during the four-hour-long meeting between NSA Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart Naseer Janjua in Bangkok. 

The joint statement after the meeting of NSAs stated that the talks were held pursuant to a meeting between PMs Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the climate meet in Paris, rejecting the version given by the Indian side then that it was a mere “exchange of courtesies”, although Sharif had told Pakistani media that he had a “good meeting” and “doors of dialogue should open”.