“In diplomacy, there is no full stop. It is always commas and semi colon.” In a masterly one-liner, India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has indicated that India is keeping options open on re-engaging Pakistan, kindling possibilities of a likely meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in New York later this month.
In her first interaction with the media after taking charge of India’s Ministry of External Affairs over three months ago, Swaraj appeared a picture of poise and handled around 50 questions on issues ranging from India-Pakistan talks and the Chinese president’s forthcoming visit to India to the crisis in Fiji and the plight of Indian hostages in Iraq. Unlike her loquacious predecessor, Swaraj’s answers were pithy and pointed, displaying her easy familiarity with nuances of foreign policy issues. This emerged clearly from her measured response to the possibilities of the meeting between Mr Modi and Mr Sharif on the sidelines of the 69th UNGA in New York and the no-nonsense stand on the cancellation of foreign secretary-level talks last month due to the Pakistani high commissioner’s meeting with separatist Kashmiri leaders.