New Delhi: Chastened by the strong Indian military response at the borders, Pakistan on Monday sought to nudge India towards talks, with the move coming just days ahead of the start of the Heart of Asia (HoA) conference in Amritsar.
The timing is being seen as significant, considering that the Pakistan Army’s hardline chief Gen. Raheel Sharif will demit office on Tuesday, paving the way for a re-asserting of authority by the Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The Pakistan PM’s advisor on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz will be visiting Amritsar in the first week of December for the HoA conference on Afghanistan.
On Monday, Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit told a TV channel that if India, being the host of the HoA conference, moots a proposal for talks, Pakistan would consider it “positively”.
He also said that as of now there was no proposal for bilateral talks (between Mr Aziz and the Indian leadership at Amritsar on the sidelines of the conference).
“If India, being the host, comes forward, Pakistan will respond favourably,” Mr Basit said. With the end of the tenure of the hardline Gen. Raheel Sharif and change of guard in the Pakistan Army and asked about its impact on the civilian Government in Pakistan, Mr Basit said the civil-military issue there was “unnecessarily being given importance”, adding that all institutions in Pakistan are stronger and in favour of democracy.
The Pakistan High Commissioner also once again spoke about the J&K issue being the “core issue” between the two countries and the “root of tensions”.
He also claimed that Pakistan also “wanted to talk about its concerns on terrorism” and raise various issues with India.
