Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz told the National Assembly on Thursday that foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India will meet soon to discuss modalities regarding the comprehensive bilateral dialogue.
Aziz said both the houses of parliament, the Senate and the National Assembly, will be taken into confidence regarding the meeting and developments.
Giving a policy statement about the recently concluded Heart of Asia Conference, Aziz claimed that the conference provided two major breakthroughs: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani coming to Pakistan – breaking ice between the leadership of two countries – and the agreement between India and Pakistan to restart a comprehensive bilateral dialogue.
He informed the House that constructive engagement between Pakistan and India would continue as the two sides had agreed to discuss peace and security, confidence building measures, Jammu and Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek, economic and commercial cooperation and counter-terrorism strategy.
Aziz claimed Pakistan had emphasised it is a victim of terrorism and sacrificed thousands of lives in the fight against terrorism.
“The conference highlighted Pakistan’s contribution to regional and international efforts for stabilisation of Afghanistan and established its role as an important country for promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan as well as the region,” said Aziz.The adviser said the outcome of the conference was a unanimously adopted “Islamabad Declaration,” reaffirming commitment of the Heart of Asia countries for long-term peace and stability in Afghanistan. He added that the declaration stipulated measures for deepening cooperation within the Heart of Asia region to achieve this end.
