- Premier says decision to hold dialogue was taken together but cancelled unilaterally by India
- Sharif-Modi meeting possible on SAARC summit sidelines if Indian external affairs minister makes a request
Upon his arrival in Kathmandu for the 18th summit of South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) scheduled for Wednesday (today), Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Tuesday said that the onus is now on India to initiate dialogue with Pakistan and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi should be asked why he is not willing to initiate the dialogue process.
Talking to reporters aboard his flight from Islamabad to Kathmandu, the prime minister lamented India’s cancellation of foreign secretary-level talks earlier this year saying that the decision to hold foreign secretary-level talks was taken by the prime ministers of both Pakistan and India, and should not have been called off unilaterally. “The ball is now in India’s court to initiate bilateral talks,” he said.
Further, the premier said that the SAARC summit would only be a fruitful forum to discuss and resolve regional issues when India and Pakistan engaged in talks.
PM Sharif stressed on strengthening the SAARC as an effective organization and harnessing its potential to the fullest. He said the SAARC was going to complete 30 years of its establishment, however it was far behind other regional forums.
The prime minister said he had visited some earlier SAARC summits and had given several proposals for its improvement. He said regional conflicts were the main impediment to the strengthening of SAARC. He, however, said Pakistan would continue playing its role in making the SAARC an effective body.
The prime minister is due to attend the SAARC summit Wednesday which will also be attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi among other SAARC leaders.
Although the two nuclear-armed neighbours have repeatedly insisted that neither country has shown any interest in the bilateral meeting on the summit sidelines, sources said that interaction between Sharif and Modi is still a ‘possibility’.
The premier’s senior aide and Adviser to PM on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, on his arrival at Kathmandu, said that there were no plans for a Sharif-Modi bilateral meeting. However, he said that a meeting between the two leaders could be arranged if Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj made a request and it was up to India to have ‘informal talks’ with Pakistan.
Earlier, a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry said that on the sidelines of the SAARC summit, PM Sharif would meet other leaders of member countries to discuss issues of bilateral and regional interest. However, it did not say whether the bilateral engagements also included a meeting with Modi.
When contacted, a senior Foreign Ministry official insisted that Pakistan had not yet received any request for such a meeting from the Indian side.
Moreover, addressing a news conference in Islamabad on Tuesday afternoon, prime minister’s spokesman Musadik Malik said Pakistan did not express desire for meeting between the two premiers on the side-lines of the SAARC summit nor was such an invitation received from India.
He said Pakistan extended a hand of friendship to India soon after formation of the new government there, but India cancelled the foreign secretary level’s talks. He said now India will have to come forward to resume the dialogue process through which Pakistan is willing to resolve all the issues with India.
Malik said Pakistan will ensure security, integrity and sovereignty of the country, and any violation of the LoC or Working Boundary will be given a befitting reply.
Meanwhile, India’s external affairs ministry also remained noncommittal about a bilateral meeting between the two prime ministers.
“The prime minister’s [Modi’s] intention is to have meaningful dialogue with as many of our South Asian colleagues as possible. This would mean taking into account all aspects of our relationship,” Syed Akbaruddin was quoted by the Press Trust of India (PTI) as saying.
