Adviser to Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid will meet on September 13 in Kyrgyzstan and try to schedule a meeting between their prime ministers in New York later this month.
They meeting between Aziz and Khursheed will be held at Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.
They will discuss bilateral issues and proposed meeting of prime ministers of both the countries in New York expected to be held on the sidelines of UN General Assembly session later this month.
According to sources in New Delhi, the meeting between Khurshid and Aziz was also aimed at reducing tension between the two countries in the backdrop of a series of ceasefire violations. Both India and Pakistan have blamed each other for the violations and summoned each other’s envoys.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has also expressed desire to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York later this month, but India has been maintaining that Islamabad needs to address its concerns on ceasefire violations in which five of its soldiers were killed.
Last week, Khurshid categorically said that a decision on possible talks between Singh and Sharif will be taken after assessing steps Pakistan takes to address their concerns on recent “unacceptable” incidents.
“We are keeping quiet on this and watching. I realise that the time is coming for the New York visit. So, obviously a call will be taken by the prime minister at an appropriate stage. But we will not hasten it as we do not want to jump the gun. I think when some major significant thing goes wrong, many things still remain right but you cannot neglect the major thing that has gone wrong. Decision has to be in the interest of the nation,” Khurshid had said.
Former Pakistan foreign secretary Shahryar Khan and former Indian diplomat SK Lambah, the point men for Pakistan-India back-channel diplomacy, also met in Dubai last week to ease tensions and firm up a meeting between the premiers.
Meanwhile, Special Envoy of the Prime Minister on Indian Affairs‚ Shehryar Khan‚ has said a meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh was being planned in New York later this month.
In an interview to CNN‚ Shahryar said that during his recent visit to India he discussed with the Indian authorities the meeting, which is almost certain to be held on the sideline of UN General Assembly session.
He said the meeting was expected to be held on 29th of this month after both the leaders attended the UN General Assembly session.
Aziz will represent Pakistan in SCO meeting which will discuss security issues in the region.
Pakistan enjoys the observer status in the SCO and is seeking a full membership.
The SCO’s policies and programmes are in consonance with Pakistan’s long term objectives of promoting peace and stability in the region‚ containing and eradicating the menace of terrorism from the region and working with members to build stronger and more productive relationship in the future.
