Islamabad: Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, after meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Chaudhary, said that India is looking forward to work with Pakistan on all subjects and he has raised the issue of Mumbai terror attack in his meeting. Jaishankar today resumed bilateral talks between the two nations that have been on hiatus for seven months.
Speaking about his fruitful meeting, the newly appointed Foreign Secretary said that he raised the demand of punishment to the Mumbai terror attack planner Lakhvi. India has consistently conveyed its concerns over the delay in the trial of the perpetrators of the 2008 attack which claimed 166 lives.
The two officials also discussed about the rising tension on LOC. “We agreed that ensuring peace and tranquility on the border is vital,” said Jaishankar.
The two Foreign Secretaries held an hour-long discussion before they broke-off for call-ons by Jaishankar on Pakistan Prime Minister's advisor on Foreign Affairs and National
Security Sartaj Aziz and PM's Special Assistant Tariq Fatemi. Jaishankar and Chaudhary resumed their discussions over working lunch which also lasted for over an hour. While Jaishankar maintained that talks were held in a “constructive and positive atmosphere”, Pakistan described the meeting as an “ice-breaking development”.
“My visit provided an opportunity to discuss our bilateral relations. We engaged on each other's concerns and interests in an open manner. We agreed to work together to find common ground and narrow differences,” said Jaishankar after his talks with Chaudhary.
On a visit to all the SAARC nations, Jaishankar arrived in Pakistan today. This is the first Foreign Secretary level meeting between the two countries since India called them off last year after Pakistan's High Commissioner in New Delhi held consultations with Kashmiri separatists.
Jaishankar will also meet Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on his maiden visit to the Islamic nation.
Jaishankar started his “SAARC yatra” on Sunday with Bhutan and visited Bangladesh yesterday. He will leave for Afghanistan from here tomorrow to round-off the first leg of his “SAARC yatra” aimed at firming up India's ties with members of the grouping while reviewing regional and bilateral cooperation. “Pakistan will be the next SAARC Chair and India would like to work with Pakistan to help SAARC achieve its potential,” he said.
Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called up Nawaz Sharif to wish Pakistan team good luck in cricket World Cup and also told him about Jaishankar's “SAARC yatra”. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an economic and geopolitical grouping of eight countries located in South Asia and include Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka as its members.
