Pakistan hopes India will respond to proposal for NSA meetings

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan today said it hoped India would "positively" respond to its proposal for an institutionalised mechanism for meetings between National Security Advisors of the two sides to discuss terrorism.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had mooted the proposed during a meeting with Indian High Commissioner T C A Raghavan yesterday.

"We do hope that these proposals which are emanating from Pakistan would be sincerely and positively reciprocated," Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry told a weekly news briefing here.

"This is a proposal that our Prime Minister has voiced. We believe that the two countries need to hold dialogue. It is only through dialogue that you can discuss issues and also resolve them," he said.

Sharif wants to see Pakistan in a neighbourhood that is peaceful and hence, he is reaching out to all neighbours, including India, Chaudhry said.

Asked if a formal proposal on the mechanism for meetings between NSAs has been sent through the Foreign Office, the spokesman said: "When the Prime Minister raises the matter with the Indian High Commissioner, it is formal enough."

Replying to a query on why a meeting between the Directors General of Military Operations of both countries has not been held despite a decision in this regard by the Prime Ministers, Chaudhry said it was the wish of the two leaders that the ceasefire on the Line of Control should be maintained.

"The two DGMOs had detailed contact on October 25 and 29 and agreed that measures would be taken to ensure that the ceasefire on the LoC is not violated," he said.