Sushma Swaraj departs from Nepal after SAARC Ministerial meeting

POKHARA: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today left this Nepalese resort town after attending the SAARC Ministerial meeting on sidelines of which she held the first bilateral talks with her Pakistani counterpart and discussed the Pathankot terror attack.

After wrapping up her three-day visit, Swaraj left Pokhara on an Mi17 chopper for Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh from where she will head to Delhi on a special flight.

She yesterday announced that a Pakistani Joint Investigation Team will arrive in India on March 27 to carry forward its probe into the Pathankot terror attack.

The assault figured very high in the over 20-minute meeting between Swaraj and Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz, the first political-level engagement between the two sides after the January 2 terror strike on the key air force base.

Swaraj also accepted Pakistan's invitation for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Islamabad for the SAARC Summit to be held on November 9-10 this year.

She also pitched for unleashing the "collective strength" of SAARC while underlining the need for a South Asian Economic Union with greater connectivity and forward movement on pending agreements on rail and motor vehicles.