Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi has said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Islamabad this year.
In an interview with a news channel on Sunday, the PM’s special assistant said that being the host country, Pakistan would work out specific convenient dates for holding the event in consultation with other SAARC members. However, he said that it might be held in November this year.
He said that as per norms, a formal invitation would be hand-carried to the Indian prime minister.
About the prospects for meetings between the two delegations, including the foreign secretaries during the summit, Fatemi said that under one roof, intensive and constant meetings were expected.
Commenting on the Pathankot attack, Fatemi said that the world acknowledged Pakistan’s firm stance on terrorism and commended its attitude and policy. He said that the Islamabad Declaration between Pakistan and India had held ground.
He said the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) would complete its probe into the Pathankot incident this week while the Special Investigation Team would also visit India.
Pakistan’s stance on terrorism was very clear, he said.
About the Afghan peace and reconciliation process, he said that Pakistan and China had the supportive roles and wanted the Afghan-owned and Afghan-led process to proceed.
He said that for holding the Kabul-Taliban direct talks, they were exerting ‘very limited influence’ to convince Taliban.
“We have been making it clear for both sides that there is no other option except reconciliation,” he said.
To another query about upcoming Pakistan-US Sixth Strategic Dialogue, Fatemi said that both the countries would discuss key areas of cooperation during the ministerial-level dialogue on Monday.
