While the government is still non-committal on a meeting with visiting Pakistan Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup reiterated India’s stated position that “talks and terror cannot go hand-in-hand”.
Ill-health of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has dented any chances of an India-Pakistan meeting on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia (HoA) conference in Amritsar next week.
While the government is still non-committal on a meeting with visiting Pakistan Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup reiterated India’s stated position that “talks and terror cannot go hand-in-hand”.
“Our position on it (talks) is very clear from the beginning. We are for a dialogue. But talks and terror cannot happen together. It is incumbent on Pakistan to create the necessary environment for a conducive dialogue,” he said and referred to Swaraj’s address at the United Nations recently. He confirmed that Swaraj will not attend the conference. She is undergoing treatment for kidney failure.
On being asked about the possibility of an Indo-Pak meet, Swarup said: “The programme is still evolving. At this point, I am not in a position to make any other announcement.” The conference, which will be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, will be attended by over 40 countries.
The choice of Amritsar for the conference was itself loaded with a message to Pakistan to remove obstacles in the way of connecting the region. The conference will not only explore peace and stability in Afghanistan, but also underscore the value of restoring connectivity to address the challenges and achieve prosperity. India and Afghanistan had earlier expressed disappointment over the fact that 1.7 lakh tonnes of wheat that India had offered Afghanistan in December 2015 remain undelivered due to obstructions put up by Pakistan.
Under the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement, goods are allowed only from Afghanistan to India, and not the other way. Several other agreements, like the Motor Vehicles Agreement, are pending due to a lack of support from Pakistan towards Kabul’s plans for business with India.
The Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process (HoA) was founded in Istanbul in November 2011 to provide a platform for regional cooperation in the ‘Heart of Asia’ by placing Afghanistan at its centre.
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