Wasted opportunity?: Indo-Pak talks on sidelines of Heart of Asia unlikely
New Delhi: Despite having an ideal opportunity at hand, there are very less chances of India and Pakistan holding bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia conference that will be held in Amritsar on December 4.
According to a report, Sartaj Aziz, the foreign policy advisor to the Pakistan Prime Minister, will arrive in Amritsar on December 4. He will not be a part of the official dinner hosted by India on the eve of the conference on December 3. He is scheduled to leave the same day, with very little scope of a one-on-one meeting with Prime Minster Narendra Modi, who will inaugurate the event, or the Minster of External Affairs.
With MEA Sushma Swaraj soon to undergo a kidney transplant, MoS MJ Akbar is likely to attend the Heart of Asia conference on her behalf, the report added.
In addition, India is also concerned about any meeting between Aziz and Kashmiri separatist leaders, the report claimed. This has always been a major bone of contention between the two countries and had resulted in the cancellation of an earlier visit by Sartaj Aziz in April.
Briefing the Pakistan's Parliament ahead of his visit, Aziz also said that Pakistan was willing to come to the table only if India will include Kashmir issue in the agenda.
Aziz will be attending the event flanked by Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan Syed Abrar Hussain and senior MoFA official Mansoor Khan.
Confirming his visit to India for the Hear of Asia conference on December 3 and 4, Aziz had earlier said that he was looking forward to ‘defuse tensions’ between the two countries during his visit.
The visit will be the first by a senior Pakistani official since the Uri attack in September, which saw gunmen raiding an army base and killing 19 soldiers.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries have gone for a toss since the attack, which was followed by a surgical strike by the Indian Army in PoK, to inundate terror camps across the border along the LoC. Tensions mounted between the two nuclear armed neighbours as both countries accused each others diplomats of spying, and incessant ceasefire violations only made matters worse.
The Heart of Asia conference will seek ways to help improve security and bring peace to Afghanistan, which has been mired in conflict since a U.S.-led coalition toppled the hardline Islamist Taliban government in 2001.
Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have also been strained over the past year, with Kabul accusing Islamabad of harbouring the leaders of Taliban and seeking to meddle in Afghan affairs. Pakistan denies the charge.
