Pakistan had earlier confirmed attendance of a junior level officer, but on Sunday night decided to send its foreign secretary to put dialogue process also back on rails.
Successive Heart of Asia conferences, meant to discuss Afghanistan, boil down to provide spotlight on India and Pakistan engagements. Within a fortnight after its envoy characterised "peace process" as suspended, Pakistan announced sending its foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry to Delhi on Tuesday to take stock of bilateral relations.
Though, Chaudhry is arriving here to participate in the 14-member Heart of Asia Conference also known as Istanbul Process to discuss issues related to Afghanistan, sources here said an informal bilateral meeting with Indian Foreign Secretary Subramaniam Jaishankar was also on the cards.
Pakistan had earlier confirmed attendance of a junior level officer, but on Sunday night decided to send its foreign secretary to put dialogue process also back on rails. Just after his visit was announced in Islamabad, he along with National Security Advisor Nasir Janjua called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to discuss a strategy. "The Senior Officials Meeting of the Heart of Asia - Istanbul Process will be held in New Delhi on 26 April 2016. Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry will lead Pakistan delegation to this meeting," the Pakistan foreign office stated. Chaudhry will arrive on Tuesday morning and is scheduled to leave by evening.
Official sources here said that India was looking forward to hear from the Pakistani delegation the progress of the investigations into the Pathankot airbase. Sources said both Delhi and Islamabad were working out the modalities for foreign secretary level talks over past fortnight, since Pakistan high commissioner Abdul Basit's comments on the suspension of talks, which had created an unsavory diplomatic situation for both countries. "We need to look ahead and not think in terms foreclosing any options. Both sides are in contact with each other," Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson said in Islamabad. Sources in Delhi had pointed out that Basit is trying to align himself with hardliners in Pakistan.
In Delhi, external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swaroop also made it clear that the dialogue process between the two neighbours was not suspended.
Pakistan hosted the fifth Heart of Asia Ministerial Conference in Islamabad on December 9, 2015. On the initiative of Afghanistan, it was decided to hold next meeting in New Delhi later part of 2016.
Significantly, it was at the Heart of Asia ministerial meeting in December last year, India and Pakistan had ended a two-year-long freeze in relations. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj who travelled to Islamabad, announced the resumption of the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue (CBD).
But the bonhomie generated by these two engagements evaporated fast after the terrorists allegedly belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammad stuck Pathankot airbase on January 2, 2016. Since then, no date for talks between the foreign secretaries were decided, but both sides have been in touch regarding the matter.
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