India, Pak secys to meet on Aug 25

The foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan will meet at Islamabad on August 25 to chart out ways to formally restart the bilateral engagement between the two neighbours.

“The first contact between the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan (after the change of guard in New Delhi) happened on Wednesday. They explored ways to move forward and agreed to meet in Islamabad on August 25 to take the process forward,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said here.

The announcement – made simultaneously in India and Pakistan – comes two months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif met in New Delhi to find out ways to restart the dialogue process that was suspended in the wake of the beheading of an Indian soldier in January 2013.

Sharif, along with leaders from Saarc nations, attended the swearing-in ceremony of Modi and his cabinet.

Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh took up the issue of regular firing along the Line of Control (LoC) and international boundary with her counterpart Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry.

“She (Singh) reiterated that meaningful cooperation between the two countries cannot take place alongside violence and the sound of bullets on the border.

To us and Pakistan, the maintenance of peace and tranquillity on the Line of Control is one of the most important Confidence Building Measures,” Akbaruddin said.

Since the Modi government took over, there were 19 ceasefire violations across the LoC and the undisputed border.