Sushma Swaraj heads to Islamabad with new zeal, Pakistan lauds move

New Delhi: External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will travel to Islamabad on Tuesday for a multilateral conference on Afghanistan, where she will also hold talks with her Pakistani counterpart, Sartaj Aziz, who said the focus will be on the resumption of the composite dialogue process.

Ms Swaraj’s visit comes two days after the talks between the two national security advisers in Bangkok, where they discussed terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir and a range of key bilateral issues, besides agreeing to carry forward the “constructive” engagement.

“External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to lead Indian delegation for ‘Heart of Asia’ 5th Ministerial Meeting on Afghanistan on December 9 in Islam-abad,” ministry of external affairs spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted.

twitter_timeline1

She will call on Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and meet his foreign affairs adviser Sartaj Aziz on the sidelines of the Afghan conference on Wednesday. In Islamabad, Mr Sartaj Aziz told reporters that Ms Swaraj was arriving Tuesday to attend the “Heart of Asia” conference and during her visit would call on Mr Sharif.

Pakitsan lauds move

Pakistan external affairs minister Sartaj Aziz said the deadlock in India-Pakistan ties had “eased” to some extent. In his talks with Ms Swaraj, Mr Aziz said various matters with focus on resumption of the composite dialogue process will be discussed.

Ms Swaraj’s visit comes three years after former external affairs minister S.M. Krishna travelled to Islamabad in 2012, when the two countries also signed an agreement on visa liberalisation.

Read:

India, Pakistan look to thaw frosty ties with Sushma’s visit to Islamabad

Talks with Sushma Swaraj to focus on composite dialogue resumption: Sartaj Aziz

Ms Swaraj will be accompanied by foreign secretary S. Jaishankar, who was also present at the four-hour-long meeting between national security adviser Ajit Doval and Pakistan NSA Naseer Janjua in the Thai capital.

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

Before Paris, Mr Modi and Mr Sharif had held a bilateral meeting in the Russian city of Ufa, where they decided the NSAs would meet to discuss all “terror-related” issues.