Dec 08 , 2015
News
India must suggest alternative to composite dialogue, says Aziz
Indian MPs assured of a full reply from Sushma after her return from PakistanNEW DELHI – Former high commissioner to India Aziz Ahmad Khan has said that India should suggest an alternative if it is not willing for a composite dialogue with Pakistan.
“We understand in Pakistan that India no longer wants composite dialogue, but we hope they will suggest an alternative,” he told The Hindu newspaper. “The least one would hope for is an agreement on how to proceed in a structure for talks,” he said.
In the first visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet to Pakistan, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is traveling to Islamabad to attend an Afghanistan conference, and meet her counterpart Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz as well as a courtesy call to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The announcement of Sushma’s visit was made by the Ministry of External Affairs in a tweet on Monday morning. Officials said that the announcement was delayed because they were awaiting completion of the talks between the national security advisers in Bangkok on Sunday.
Sushma is leading a delegation which will include Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, Joint Secretary Gopal Baglay, official spokesperson Vikas Swarup and India’s High Commissioner to Pakistan TCA Raghavan. In New Delhi, the government faced a criticism for reviving the dialogue process.
Raising the issue in the parliament, Congress leader Anand Sharma called for an explanation for the fundamental departure from the position the government had articulated in the monsoon session. The government has committed to a full reply from Sushma after her return from Pakistan on December 10.
“We are expecting that the conference will set the stage for better relations not only with India but also with Afghanistan,” Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi told the state-run Pakistan Television. He said that Pakistan wanted to address the issue of regional peace through an inclusive approach.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk