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SAARC summit may break Nawaz, Modi ice
INPNEW DELHI – The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit may see a thaw in Pakistan and India ties that have nosedived in recent months, with New Delhi not ruling out an informal meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.
The two leaders will come face-to-face when eight members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation meet in Kathmandu on November 26 and 27 though there is a no formal proposal from either side for a meeting. This came on a day Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhary met her Indian counterpart Sujatha Singh at the SAARC Standing Committee of the foreign secretaries.
While there was no official word on whether Aizaz and Sujatha discussed any bilateral agenda on the sidelines, a Nepal government official said that they were focused on the ambitious SAARC agenda — on poverty alleviation, eradication of illiteracy and connectivity in terms of rail, road and power grid — during the two-day Standing Committee meeting which concluded on Monday.
After the foreign secretaries meeting, Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Indian’s Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj are expected to take part in the foreign ministers’ meeting on November 25. “The Indian prime minister, who leaves for the meeting on Tuesday, was keen to have meaningful dialogues with as many south Asian colleagues as possible,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said on Sunday.
Even a small chat in an informal setting could prove to be ice-breaker, said sources. Modi had invited nawaz for his swearing-in but the ties have taken a hit ever since. In August, the foreign secretary-level talks were called off when the Pakistan high commissioner went ahead and met Kashmiri separatists, ignoring India’s reservations. The schedule for the bilateral meetings was a work in progress, Akbaruddin said.
To a question on the talks between the two sides, Akbaruddin said that India was for cooperative and peaceful ties with Pakistan. “Our view is very simple. There is a simple two-way street to promote peaceful cooperative ties between India and Pakistan and that is through meaningful bilateral dialogue any deviation from this path is not going to lead us to a common destination,” he said.
The external affairs ministry said that India was ready to engage and sign agreements should there be consensus among the SAARC countries in the areas of transport and energy, especially electricity.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk