Let’s talk terror, PoK, Jaishankar tells Pak

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 25

As the India-Pakistan “war of letters” continues, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar has shot off another letter to his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Choudhary.

Sources in the government confirm that in the letter, Jaishankar has made it clear to Pakistan that the India-Pakistan talks should focus on terror emanating from Pakistan to India and to the region.

The letter is India’s response to Choudhary’s August 19 invitation to Jaishankar, asking him to travel to Islamabad and discuss the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Sources said the letter was handed over by Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale to Choudhary yesterday in Islamabad.

Sources said the Foreign Secretary, in the letter, has pressed upon Islamabad once again for the need to move out of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Sources add that India has upped the ante this time with the Foreign Secretary raising the issue of terror emanating from Pakistani soil and targeting not just India but also the region. It is learnt that the decision on whether Jaishankar would travel to Pakistan at the end of the month would be determined once Pakistan responds to the latest letter.

India-Pakistan relations show no signs of improvement with Kashmir having emerged as the main issue. The dialogue process has been in a state of suspension since the January Pathankot attacks and the recent exchange of letters between the two Foreign Secretaries is an effort to create ground for talks.