Pakistan and India trade terror charges as foreign secys meet

Pakistan on Tuesday raised the issue of terrorist activities of Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in Balochistan and order parts of the country, while India told Pakistan it “cannot be in denial” on the impact of terrorism on the bilateral relations between the two countries.

“Terrorist groups based in Pakistan targeting India must not be allowed to operate with impunity,” Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar told his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Chaudhary in an informal meeting on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia conference – Istanbul Process.

The top diplomats of both the countries met for talks in New Delhi after a hiatus of several months following a militant attack on an Indian air base.

“All outstanding issues, including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute came under discussion,” according to the Foreign Office.

Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria said that Foreign Secretary Aizaz emphasised that Kashmir remains the core issue that requires a just solution under the United Nations Security Council resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people.

Chaudhry underscored Pakistan’s commitment to ensure friendly relations with all its neighbours, including India.

Meanwhile, Jaishankar emphasised the need for early and visible progress on Pathankot assault probe as well as Mumbai attack trial in Pakistan, a press release issued by India’s Ministry of External Affairs said.

The Indian diplomat also pressed for a consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian spy in custody of law enforcement agencies in Pakistan, to which Aizaz expressed Islamabad’s concern over Research and Analysis Wing’s (RAW) involvement in subversive activities in Pakistan.

Jadhav, a RAW agent, was arrested from Balochistan in March and in a video released by ISPR confessed his involvement in terrorism related activites in Karachi and Balochistan.

The FO spokesman added that Chaudhry also conveyed Pakistan’s concerns over the environment created in India for the release of Samjhauta Express attack suspects and registered a protest for not sharing the investigation reports about the incident in which 42 Pakistanis lost their lives.

The foreign secretary underscored the need for early commencement of comprehensive dialogue between the two countries and expressed confidence that the goodwill generated by recent high level contacts will pave way for a meaningful dialogue between the two neighbours.

Discussions also covered humanitarian issues, including those pertaining to fishermen and prisoners, and people to people contacts.

The two foreign secretaries also exchanged ideas on taking the relationship forward and agreed to remain in touch.

“The meeting between Pakistan and Indian foreign secretaries provided a useful opportunity to exchange views on recent developments in bilateral context,” the Indian media quoted Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit as saying. Basit also attended the meeting.

Earlier, Pakistan hosted the fifth Heart of Asia Ministerial Conference in Islamabad on December 9, 2015.

Foreign Secretary Aizaz’s trip is the first high-level visit to Delhi from Islamabad since the Pathankot attack although a team of investigators from different Pakistan agencies earlier travelled to India for collecting evidence linked to allegations that militants from Pakistan took part in the attack.

The two countries had been, in the aftermath of the Pathankot terrorist attack, been struggling to schedule a meeting of their foreign secretaries after both countries had coincidentally agreed on restarting their bilateral dialogue under a new format called the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue – agreed to at the last Heart of Asia ministerial meeting held in Islamabad last December, where India was represented by its External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

The agreement on the new talks’ framework had then infused optimism in the ties and was soon followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise stopover in Lahore.

But, soon afterwards Pathankot happened, which was blamed on Pakistan-based militants, and the seemingly smooth progress towards dialogue resumption began to flounder.