India, Pak foreign secretaries to meet in Islamabad

Both secretaries have agreed to take bilateral process forward as directed by the two Prime Ministers

Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh and her Pakistani counterpart, Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry will be meeting on August 25 in Islamabad to seek a mechanism on how to take forward the bilateral relationship on a wide range of issues.

The meeting was decided during a telephonic conversation between both foreign secretaries on Wednesday.

During the conversation, Singh strongly raised the issue of repeated ceasefire violations across the Line of Control (LoC).

“Both secretaries agreed to take the process forward as directed by the two prime ministers…since there had been incidents of firing along the international boundary, Singh used the opportunity to raise these issues. She recalled that incidents of this nature will impede the positive work that the political leaders of both countries wish to undertake,” Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said.

He said the foreign secretary reiterated a normal relationship between both countries “could not take place alongside violence and sounds of bullets on the border”. He said the maintenance of peace and tranquility on the LoC was one of the most important confidence building measures.

“In keeping with the vision of the two prime ministers to improve and establish good neighbourly relations, the foreign secretaries agreed that the dialogue process between the two countries should be result-oriented,” stated a release from the Pakistan foreign affairs ministry.

Meanwhile, minister of state (IC) for commerce and industry Nirmala Sitharaman today said Pakistan is yet to grant India the much-awaited 'Most Favoured Nation' trade status to India.

India and Pakistan have no formal bilateral trade agreement. India granted the MFN status to Pakistan in the year 1996. Pakistan is yet to reciprocate, Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.