Talks with Pakistan should continue, ex-envoys tell Sushma Swaraj

NEW DELHI: External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday held a meeting with former Indian envoys as well as foreign secretaries, many of whom had served in Pakistan, to discuss the future of Indo-Pak relations. At the meeting, there was a broad consensus that engagement with the neighbour should continue notwithstanding the Pathankot attack.

Swaraj held consultations with former ambassador to Afghanistan and PM’s special envoy SK Lambah, former high commissioner to Pakistan G Parthasarathy, former foreign secretary Shyam Saran, former NSA and foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon, former high commissioners to Pak Satyabrata Paul, Sharad Sabharwal and TCA Raghavan. Menon had also served as high commissioner to Pakistan when AB Vajpayee was the PM.

Follow @ETDefence Twitter handle for comprehensive coverage on other buzzing Defence stories

While this meeting was pre-fixed to decide the road ahead in Indo-Pak relations, the meeting assumed significance in the light of the Pathankot terror attack. People familiar with the development said envoys shared their experience on Pakistan. The overall sense from the meeting was that engagement with Islamabad must continue, the sources said. The external affairs ministry, however, did not give details of this unusual meeting and termed it as "diplomatic consultations on Pakistan strategy".

Meanwhile, Pakistan has said the foreign secretaries of the two countries will meet on January 15 to draw up a roadmap for the next six months.