Business Standard

Indo-Pak FMs talks postponed; Secretaries to meet on Jul 4-5

Image

Press Trust of India New Delhi

According to official sources, Pakistan wanted to hold the meeting on July 19 which was not convenient to the Indian side in view of the Presidential poll on that date.

The new dates are being worked out at the convenience of both sides and the meeting is likely to happen in August, the sources said.

However, official spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin stressed that the rescheduling was not indicative of any "substance problem" between the two neighbours. "Don't merge substance with process....Rescheduling should not be taken as substance problem," the spokesperson said.

He also announced that Foreign Secretaries Ranjan Mathai will hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani here on July 4-5 to discuss peace and security, including CBMs, Kashmir and promotion of friendly exchanges.

 

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna was expected to travel to Islamabad on July 18-19 to hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar after the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries met in Delhi.

The Indo-Pak dialogue, which was stalled following the Mumbai terror attack in November 2008, resumed last year with both sides holding a series of meetings on the eight components under the 'Composite Dialogue' format, including terrorism, Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek and Trade.

The two countries have already had four segments including terrorism, trade and water in the past few months with two more -on Siachen and Sir Creek- slated for this month as part of the second round of talks.

  

Don't miss the most important news and views of the day. Get them on our Telegram channel

First Published: Jun 26 2012 | 6:05 PM IST

Explore News