<p>Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit on Thursday said the process to restart the stalled dialogue between the two neighbours was “suspended”.<br /><br /></p>.<p>“I think at present it is suspended,” Basit told journalists in New Delhi when he was asked about the status of the bilateral dialogue. He also said that two governments had not yet scheduled any meeting between Indian and Pakistani foreign secretaries, who were to discuss and finalise modalities and schedule of the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue (CBD), as it would have been renamed after resumption.<br /><br />But, responding to a question on the possibility of Foreign Secretary level talks, M Nafees Zakaria, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan Government, said in Islamabad that both countries were in contact with each other and it had been reiterated from both sides that modalities were being worked out.<br /><br />Basit said that while Pakistan was willing to engage with India “uninterruptedly, comprehensively and meaningfully” to resolve all outstanding bilateral issues, New Delhi was not ready yet. He said Pakistan would wait for India to be ready to restart the dialogue.<br /><br />A contradiction<br />Reacting to Basit’s comments in New Delhi, official spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs, Vikas Swarup, drew attention to the contradictory statement made by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan in Islamabad. <br /><br />Sources in New Delhi told DH that the contradictory remarks by Pakistani diplomats here and in Islamabad had reflected the ambivalence in the approach of the neighbouring country on the issue of engagement with India.<br /><br />Basit’s comment came almost four months after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj joined her Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz in Islamabad on December 9 to announce the resumption of the formal bilateral dialogue, which had remained stalled since January 2013. Three weeks after the announcement, terrorists from Pakistan attacked the Pathankot airbase on January 2. New Delhi, however, did not call off its engagement with Islamabad.<br /><br />The Pathankot attack took place just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise visit to Lahore on December 25 to greet his Pakistani counterpart M Nawaz Sharif on his birthday.<br /><br />Despite criticism from the Congress and other opposition parties as well as some allies, the Modi government defended its decision not to call off restart of dialogue with the neighbouring country. The government cited Islamabad’s promise to probe the Pathankot attack on information provided by New Delhi on role of Pakistan-based terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed in planning, financing and coordinating the attack.<br /><br />“For the first time, the government of India has received cooperation from Pakistan in the form of a JIT (Joint Investigating Team) visit for investigating a terrorist attack in India,” Swarup said in New Delhi on Thursday. <br /><br />Basit on Thursday also remained non-committal on New Delhi’s request to Islamabad for allowing the National Investigation Agency, which has been probing the Pathankot attack, to visit Pakistan. “This is not about question of reciprocity. It is about cooperation between our two countries,” he said. “I leave it to your imagination,” he said on being asked to clarify about Pakistan’s position on allowing investigators from India. </p>
<p>Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit on Thursday said the process to restart the stalled dialogue between the two neighbours was “suspended”.<br /><br /></p>.<p>“I think at present it is suspended,” Basit told journalists in New Delhi when he was asked about the status of the bilateral dialogue. He also said that two governments had not yet scheduled any meeting between Indian and Pakistani foreign secretaries, who were to discuss and finalise modalities and schedule of the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue (CBD), as it would have been renamed after resumption.<br /><br />But, responding to a question on the possibility of Foreign Secretary level talks, M Nafees Zakaria, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan Government, said in Islamabad that both countries were in contact with each other and it had been reiterated from both sides that modalities were being worked out.<br /><br />Basit said that while Pakistan was willing to engage with India “uninterruptedly, comprehensively and meaningfully” to resolve all outstanding bilateral issues, New Delhi was not ready yet. He said Pakistan would wait for India to be ready to restart the dialogue.<br /><br />A contradiction<br />Reacting to Basit’s comments in New Delhi, official spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs, Vikas Swarup, drew attention to the contradictory statement made by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan in Islamabad. <br /><br />Sources in New Delhi told DH that the contradictory remarks by Pakistani diplomats here and in Islamabad had reflected the ambivalence in the approach of the neighbouring country on the issue of engagement with India.<br /><br />Basit’s comment came almost four months after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj joined her Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz in Islamabad on December 9 to announce the resumption of the formal bilateral dialogue, which had remained stalled since January 2013. Three weeks after the announcement, terrorists from Pakistan attacked the Pathankot airbase on January 2. New Delhi, however, did not call off its engagement with Islamabad.<br /><br />The Pathankot attack took place just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise visit to Lahore on December 25 to greet his Pakistani counterpart M Nawaz Sharif on his birthday.<br /><br />Despite criticism from the Congress and other opposition parties as well as some allies, the Modi government defended its decision not to call off restart of dialogue with the neighbouring country. The government cited Islamabad’s promise to probe the Pathankot attack on information provided by New Delhi on role of Pakistan-based terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed in planning, financing and coordinating the attack.<br /><br />“For the first time, the government of India has received cooperation from Pakistan in the form of a JIT (Joint Investigating Team) visit for investigating a terrorist attack in India,” Swarup said in New Delhi on Thursday. <br /><br />Basit on Thursday also remained non-committal on New Delhi’s request to Islamabad for allowing the National Investigation Agency, which has been probing the Pathankot attack, to visit Pakistan. “This is not about question of reciprocity. It is about cooperation between our two countries,” he said. “I leave it to your imagination,” he said on being asked to clarify about Pakistan’s position on allowing investigators from India. </p>
