Khurshid likely to take up ceasefire breach with Pak

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid may have a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz in New Delhi next month and give vent to India’s disappointment over repeated ceasefire violations by the troops of the neighbouring country along the Line of Control (LoC) and the border between the two nations.

Aziz, adviser on foreign affairs to Pakistan Prime Minister M Nawaz Sharif, is likely to travel to New Delhi next month, primarily to take part in the conclave of the Foreign Ministers of Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), which is being hosted by India on November 11 and 12. He may also have a bilateral meeting with Khurshid on the sidelines of ASEM to discuss the troubled relations between the two countries.

Sources told Deccan Herald that Khurshid and Aziz might meet, though no significant headway was expected unless Pakistan stopped flouting ceasefire along the LoC as well as the undisputed stretches of its boundary with India and expedited the trial of plotters and perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.

Sharif and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met in New York last month in the backdrop of repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistani Army. The two sides had agreed that truce violations be stopped and peace and tranquillity be maintained along the border. The hope for a thaw was, however, belied as Pakistani soldiers continued to open fire on Indian Army and Border Security Force personnel along the border.

Earlier, the killing of five Indian soldiers by a group comprising Pakistani Army regulars and terrorists at Poonch in Kashmir on August 6 had cast a shadow on the Singh-Sharif meeting in New York. New Delhi, however, did not call off the meeting, even after suspected Pakistani terrorists carried out twin attacks at Samba in Kashmir on September 26.

Singh recently expressed disappointment over continued ceasefire violations by the Pakistani Army.

The two prime ministers had agreed that India’s Director General Military Operation (DGMO) and his Pakistani counterpart would meet to discuss effective means to restore ceasefire. But uncertainty now looms large over the new mechanism as New Delhi and Islamabad are yet to finalise the date for the first meeting of the two DGMOs.

Sources said that Khurshid and Aziz might discuss ways to end the impasse when they meet in New Delhi.