ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan and India are set to revive their Track II dialogue for discussions on Kashmir and other outstanding issues, Adviser on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz said at a press conference on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s meeting with Narendra Modi on July 10, at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Ufa, Russia.
“The two sides have agreed to revive Track-II dialogue to explore ways of resolving issues that have been lingering on for a long time and need to be resolved in order to give peace a chance.”
Details of the revived Track-II will be worked out by the two countries through diplomatic channels.
According to reports, this is a second attempt of talks under the Sharif government. Soon after election, PM Nawaz had initiated the Track II by appointing Ambassador Shahryar Khan as his pointman for the purpose.
The Track-II — an unofficial dialogue involving private individual, mostly retired officials, to resolve conflicts — has long been part of the peace process between Pakistan and India and complemented the official dialogue.
Although Mr Aziz insisted that Kashmir would always be part of the formal dialogue, it appeared from his press talk that substantive discussions on Kashmir would be held at the Track-II and this issue would be pushed down the list of priorities at the official track.