India and Pakistan today broke ice through a meeting of the National Security Advisers in Bangkok, a move aimed at improving the atmosphere ahead of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Pakistan this week.
Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met Lt General Naseer Khan Janjua (retd) in the Thai capital. The meeting was kept under wraps.
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and three others were in the delegation that met the Pakistan team away from the media glare to take forward the brief meeting Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan had in Paris recently.
“Discussions were held in a candid, cordial and constructive atmosphere. They were guided by the vision of the two leaders for a peaceful, stable and prosperous South Asia. Discussions covered peace and security, terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir, and other issues, including tranquility along the Line of Control. It was agreed to carry forward the constructive engagement,” a joint press release issued at the end of the meeting said.
By holding the talks at a neutral venue, both sides managed to keep it secret, away from the media glare and Pakistan could do without insisting on having a word with the Hurriyat, a move that became a spoiler on two earlier occasions.
In August 2014, India pulled out of the Foreign Secretary-level talks after Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit met separatist leaders.
Sources here suggested the discussions went on for about four hours and all issues of concern, including India’s accent on the need to tackle terror by Pakistan, figured.
Besides Doval and Jaishankar, the delegation included former IB chief Asif Ibrahim, currently Modi’s special envoy on counter-terrorism, joint secretaries in PMO Javed Ashraf and Vinay Kwatra.
This is the first meeting between the NSAs of India and Pakistan since the scheduled talks during August were called off after acrimonious war of words over the agenda with Islamabad insisting on taking up Jammu and Kashmir and New Delhi preferring to go by the Ufa statement focusing on terror.
In August, it could have been Sartaj Aziz, then holding twin charge as Foreign Affairs and National Security Adviser to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. However, during October Pakistan appointed Lt General Janjua as the NSA.
After the Ufa meeting in July, both Prime Ministers agreed the two NSAs will meet and discuss terror to be followed by one between the Directors General of Military Operations and Heads of Border Security Force and Pakistan Rangers. Of this, only the last engagement went as scheduled.
That the NSA talks happened ahead of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Pakistan for the Heart of Asia conference on Afghanistan being hosted there on Wednesday should also open the door for a meeting with Aziz.
BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said the statement at Bangkok “clearly shows that it is continuum. Substantive issues of the spirit of Ufa statement are well reflected”, while former Union Minister Manish Tewari sought to know what changed between September and December for this meeting to take place.
Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met Lt General Naseer Khan Janjua (retd) in the Thai capital. The meeting was kept under wraps.
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and three others were in the delegation that met the Pakistan team away from the media glare to take forward the brief meeting Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan had in Paris recently.
“Discussions were held in a candid, cordial and constructive atmosphere. They were guided by the vision of the two leaders for a peaceful, stable and prosperous South Asia. Discussions covered peace and security, terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir, and other issues, including tranquility along the Line of Control. It was agreed to carry forward the constructive engagement,” a joint press release issued at the end of the meeting said.
By holding the talks at a neutral venue, both sides managed to keep it secret, away from the media glare and Pakistan could do without insisting on having a word with the Hurriyat, a move that became a spoiler on two earlier occasions.
In August 2014, India pulled out of the Foreign Secretary-level talks after Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit met separatist leaders.
Sources here suggested the discussions went on for about four hours and all issues of concern, including India’s accent on the need to tackle terror by Pakistan, figured.
Besides Doval and Jaishankar, the delegation included former IB chief Asif Ibrahim, currently Modi’s special envoy on counter-terrorism, joint secretaries in PMO Javed Ashraf and Vinay Kwatra.
This is the first meeting between the NSAs of India and Pakistan since the scheduled talks during August were called off after acrimonious war of words over the agenda with Islamabad insisting on taking up Jammu and Kashmir and New Delhi preferring to go by the Ufa statement focusing on terror.
In August, it could have been Sartaj Aziz, then holding twin charge as Foreign Affairs and National Security Adviser to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. However, during October Pakistan appointed Lt General Janjua as the NSA.
After the Ufa meeting in July, both Prime Ministers agreed the two NSAs will meet and discuss terror to be followed by one between the Directors General of Military Operations and Heads of Border Security Force and Pakistan Rangers. Of this, only the last engagement went as scheduled.
That the NSA talks happened ahead of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Pakistan for the Heart of Asia conference on Afghanistan being hosted there on Wednesday should also open the door for a meeting with Aziz.
BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said the statement at Bangkok “clearly shows that it is continuum. Substantive issues of the spirit of Ufa statement are well reflected”, while former Union Minister Manish Tewari sought to know what changed between September and December for this meeting to take place.
