![[Bregs]](/data/avatars/m/148/148509.jpg?1491816884){kind=avatar}
[Bregs]
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2013
- Messages
- 6,156
- Reaction score
- 2
- Country
- Location
NEW DELHI: External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj is likely to visit Pakistan on Monday to attend a conference, days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's handshake and two-minute meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Paris marked a break in the impasse between the two neighbours.
Reports said Swaraj is scheduled to attend the 14-nation ministerial-level conference on December 8 to discuss regional cooperation on Afghanistan. Swaraj has been invited but New Delhi has so far given no indication whether she will attend.
However, informed sources said on Wednesday night that prospects of the Indian minister's visit were "fairly bright", but a final decision was likely to be announced by Friday.
On Monday, Modi held a brief meeting with Sharif as world leaders converged in Paris for the Conference of Parties (CoP) climate summit. The two leaders were then seen sitting on the same sofa and engaging in an animated discussion for a brief while.
This was the first meeting between the two leaders since they met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in Ufa, Russia, in July this year.
After the meeting, they directed their foreign secretaries to initiate the process of renewal of talks, including meetings between the national security advisors of the two countries.
However, talks between Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz scheduled in August this year were cancelled after the Pakistan high commission in India insisted on inviting Hurriyat leaders for a reception in honour of Aziz.
On Saturday, on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Valletta, Malta, Sharif told British Premier David Cameron during a bilateral meeting that Islamabad was ready for unconditional talks with New Delhi.
Monday's meeting between Modi and Sharif had also come at a time when the Indian cricket board is awaiting permission from the government to hold a bilateral cricket series with Pakistan at the neutral venue of Sri Lanka tentatively scheduled for mid-December.
(With agency inputs)
Days after Modi-Sharif handshake in Paris, Sushma Swaraj likely to visit Pakistan - The Times of India
Reports said Swaraj is scheduled to attend the 14-nation ministerial-level conference on December 8 to discuss regional cooperation on Afghanistan. Swaraj has been invited but New Delhi has so far given no indication whether she will attend.
However, informed sources said on Wednesday night that prospects of the Indian minister's visit were "fairly bright", but a final decision was likely to be announced by Friday.
On Monday, Modi held a brief meeting with Sharif as world leaders converged in Paris for the Conference of Parties (CoP) climate summit. The two leaders were then seen sitting on the same sofa and engaging in an animated discussion for a brief while.
This was the first meeting between the two leaders since they met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in Ufa, Russia, in July this year.
After the meeting, they directed their foreign secretaries to initiate the process of renewal of talks, including meetings between the national security advisors of the two countries.
However, talks between Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz scheduled in August this year were cancelled after the Pakistan high commission in India insisted on inviting Hurriyat leaders for a reception in honour of Aziz.
On Saturday, on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Valletta, Malta, Sharif told British Premier David Cameron during a bilateral meeting that Islamabad was ready for unconditional talks with New Delhi.
Monday's meeting between Modi and Sharif had also come at a time when the Indian cricket board is awaiting permission from the government to hold a bilateral cricket series with Pakistan at the neutral venue of Sri Lanka tentatively scheduled for mid-December.
(With agency inputs)
Days after Modi-Sharif handshake in Paris, Sushma Swaraj likely to visit Pakistan - The Times of India
