Pak urges India to resume foreign-secretary level talks

Ahead of Chinese premier, Xi Jinping’s visit to Islamabad on April 20, Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan’s national security adviser and key adviser on foreign policy to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has urged India to resume foreign secretary-level talks to overcome the impediments to peace in the region.
Addressing a seminar called ‘Muslim-Sikh Dosti Di Tarjman — Baisakhi (Baisakhi represents Muslim-Sikh friendship)’ at the Lahore Fort, Mr Aziz said, “Although the Indian foreign secretary visited Pakistan on March 3 this year, it was on a goodwill visit to the SAARC nations and formal talks were yet to resume” , adding that Pakistan’s foreign ministry wonders when India decided to cancel the talks on its own, without even consulting Pakistan.
He maintained that Pakistan believed in peace in the region, and it desired to initiate dialogues with India and other neighboring countries.
“Pakistan believes in peace in the region and desires to initiate dialogue on all issues with India. If there will be peace, we all can eradicate the menace of poverty, illiteracy and injustice in the region,” he said.
Stressing on Pakistan’s efforts to protect the rights of minorities in the countries, he said “Now every Sikh or Hindu knows well that Pakistan is doing a lot for them. And the Baisakhi, I will say, it represents an unending friendship between Sikhs and Muslims.”
Speaking on the occasion was ETPB Chairman Siddiqul Farooq, who said Pakistani government would continue to serve Hindus and Sikhs by maintaining their worship places.
India had decided to cancel all the foreign secretary level talks in August last year after the Pakistan high commissioner in New Delhi held consultations with Kashmiri separatists.

Author Profile

India Writes Network: India Writes Network (www.indiawrites.org) is an emerging think tank and a media-publishing company focused on international affairs & the India Story. Centre for Global India Insights is the research arm of India Writes Network. To subscribe to India and the World, write to editor@indiawrites.org. A venture of TGII Media Private Limited, a leading media, publishing and consultancy company, IWN has carved a niche for balanced and exhaustive reporting and analysis of international affairs. Eminent personalities, politicians, diplomats, authors, strategy gurus and news-makers have contributed to India Writes Network, as also “India and the World,” a magazine focused on global affairs.