Pakistan high commissioner Abdul Basit to meet new foreign secretary S Jaishankar to revive talks

NEW DELHI: Pakistan high commissioner Abdul Basit will call on foreign secretary S Jaishankar next week to explore the possibility of relaunching the bilateral dialogue that was suspended by India last year after the envoy met separatist Hurriyat leaders.

Although officials in the Pakistan government told ET that Basit will make a courtesy call on the new foreign secretary, there are expectations in some quarters that talks could be revived as new secretary could suggest ideas to government to relaunch talks.

The Sharif government has been sending feelers over the past few months to restart the dialogue, officials said, even as India has maintained that talks can only be held in an atmosphere free of violence and after Pakistan takes action against terrorists operating from its soil.

India has shown no interest in reviving talks since August last year, with Modi only exchanging greetings with Sharif at the SAARC Summit in Kathmandu.

According to a section of observers, India-Pakistan talks could restart after PDP and BJP officially get together to form the government in Jammu and Kashmir. Some members of the PDP are reportedly in favour of talks with Pakistan.

Pakistan’s former national security adviser Major General (retired) Mahmud Durrani, who met both NSA Ajit Kumar Doval and Jaishankar this week may have brought a message from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, a person familiar with the matter said.

Durrani held several meetings in Delhi this week in what many believe could have been backchannel efforts to normalise relations between the two countries.

Experts, however, refused to read much into Durrani’s engagements in Delhi. While Durrani may have brought some message from Pakistan government like others in subcontinent who come to Delhi as emissaries, the former Pakistan NSA is close to the Pakistan People’s Party and incurred wrath of the army after the Mumbai attacks when he had agreed to send then ISI chief to India, an expert pointed out.

Both Indian officials and Pakistan High Commission officially dismissed the speculation that Durrani had come with an aim to revive the dialogue.