Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyan Jaishankar arrived in Pakistan on a two-day visit yesterday, marking the first high-level meeting since talks broke down between the two nuclear-armed rivals last year.
Jaishankar met with his Pakistani counterpart, Aizaz Chaudhry, at the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad, and was expected to meet later with Sartaj Aziz, the prime minister’s adviser on national security and foreign affairs.
Chaudhry and Jaishankar shook hands and posed briefly for photographs before going in for a closed-door meeting
Tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors have resulted in both armies firing across their disputed border in the region of Kashmir several times in the past year. At least a dozen people were killed and thousands forced to flee their homes in the latest fighting in January.
Jaishankar is officially slated to discuss issues related to the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation in meetings with Chaudhry.
His trip is part of a regional tour that also includes Bhutan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, but state media said specific bilateral issues would also be on the agenda.
The Pakistani side expressed hope for resuming negotiations known as the Composite Dialogue, so-called because they aim to address multiple overlapping issues including Kashmir, cross-border terrorism, border and water issues.
“I wouldn’t like to speculate, but naturally the two secretaries will also discuss bilateral relations,” Pakistani Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said. “We hope that this process can lead to the resumption of the Composite Dialogue.”
A senior Indian diplomat was more cautious late last week, saying that he was “hesitant to predict” whether yesterday’s meeting would lay the groundwork for restarting negotiations.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August abruptly canceled the last round of talks in Islamabad out of anger that Pakistan’s envoy in New Delhi had hosted Kashmiri separatists in preparation.
Pakistan and India have fought two wars over Kashmir since the brutal fighting following the two countries’ partition in 1947 following the end of British colonial rule.
The Himalayan region is divided between the two countries by a disputed frontier, part of one of the world’s most heavily militarized borders.
India says Pakistan supports separatist militants that cross from the Pakistan side to attack Indian forces. Pakistan says India’s military is abusing the human rights of Muslim Kashmiris.
On Sunday in Kashmir, Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party formed a coalition state government with the regional People’s Democratic Party, which promotes self-rule for Indian-controlled Kashmir and peace talks with militant separatists.
The new coalition offered a sign that cooperation is possible.
Another sign Modi might be warming to the idea of improving relations: the Indian leader telephoned Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif last month to wish his country luck in the World Cup cricket tournament.
India won its match with Pakistan in the tournament a day later.
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