UFA (Russia), July 10:
Breaking the deadlock, India and Pakistan today decided to revive the stalled dialogue process and find ways to expedite trial of the Mumbai attack case at talks between Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi who agreed to visit Pakistan next year for the SAARC Summit.
Modi and Sharif, in their first bilateral talks in over an year, met for nearly one hour at Ufa’s Congress Hall here on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit and decided that National Security Advisers Ajit Doval and Sartaj Aziz will meet in New Delhi either next month or in September to discuss “all issues connected to terrorism”.
The decision is crucial as Aziz is a well-respected person in that country and trusted by the Pakistan Army, sources said, adding he is the right man for the task.
The two leaders focused their discussions mainly on terrorism, which India has been projecting as the core issue bedevilling Indo-Pak relations.
Modi and Sharif had held bilateral talks in May last year in New Delhi when the Pakistan Prime Minister came to attend swearing-in ceremony of the Indian leader. They came face-to- face in Kathmandu in November last for the SAARC Summit but only exchanged pleasantries.
Foreign Secretaries of the two countries were to meet in August last year in Islamabad but the talks were cancelled by India which protested the Pakistani envoy in Delhi meeting Kashmiri separatist leaders ahead of the parleys.
A one-page joint statement outlining a five-point roadmap issued after the Modi-Sharif meeting said, “Both sides agreed to discuss ways and means to expedite the Mumbai case trial (in Pakistan), including additional information like providing voice samples”.
India has been upset over the almost non-existent trial in the 2008 Mumbai attack case, with even the mastermind and LeT operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi being released by the court as the Pakistan government failed to furnish the required evidence.
The joint statement also spelt out a number of decisions, including early meetings of BSF Director General and his counterpart from Pakistan Rangers followed by that of DGMOs.
Significantly, there was no mention of Kashmir in the joint statement or at the joint press briefing by Foreign Secretaries S Jaishankar and Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry.
Modi, who accepted Sharif’s invitation to visit Pakistan for the SAARC Summit in 2016, will be the first Indian Prime Minister in 12 years to travel to that country after Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s historic visit in January, 2004.
The two leaders agreed that India and Pakistan have collective responsibility to ensure peace and promote development. To do so, they are prepared to discuss all outstanding issues, the statement said.
Both leaders condemned terrorism “in all its forms” and agreed to cooperate with each other to eliminate this menace from South Asia, the statement said.
Seeking to maintain peace on the International Border and Line of Control (LoC), the two sides agreed on early meetings of DG BSF and DG Pakistan Rangers followed by that of Director General Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two countries.
Commenting on this, Doval told PTI, “It will help bring peace and tranquility on the border”.
Jaishankar and Chaudhry read out the “agreed” statement by turns and left after it was made clear that no questions would be entertained.
The two sides also decided to release fishermen in each other’s custody, along with their boats, within a period of 15 days, addressing one of the major humanitarian issues between them.
According to the latest list exchanged by the two sides, there were 355 Indian fishermen languishing in Pakistani jails and 27 Pakistani fishermen lodged in Indian jails.
The two sides also decided to have a mechanism for facilitating religious tourism.
The Indian side was appreciative of Sharif, saying he has taken a statesman-like stand, which would bode well for promoting bilateral ties.
Sharif said “yes” on being asked whether he was happy over today’s development.
Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman said in Islamabad that the Modi-Sharif meeting was a “positive development”.
He said the international community was also interested in improvement of relations between Pakistan and India because it would benefit not only the peoples of the two countries but also the whole region.
Modi, in a dark grey bandhgala, received Sharif and the two leaders warmly shook hands and posed for the shutterbugs before settling down for the talks.
“The meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere. The two leaders exchanged views on issues of bilateral and regional interest,” the statement added. (PTI)
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