ISLAMABAD: In a sudden breakthrough, National Security Advisors of Pakistan and India Lt. General (retd) Nasir Khan Janjua and Ajit Doval held talks in Bangkok on Sunday on a wide gamut of bilateral ties including, security, terrorism and Jammu and Kashmir, and agreed to take forward the “constructive” engagement. The meeting lasted for about four hours between the two NSAs.
The two NSAs were assisted by the foreign secretaries of the two countries.
The meeting took place pursuant to the recently-held meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Paris climate summit.
Guided by the vision of the two leaders for a peaceful, stable and prosperous South Asia, discussions were held in a candid, cordial and constructive atmosphere, sources said.
Topics discussed during the talks included peace and security, terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir, and other issues, including tranquility along the Line of Control.
Spokesman for the Foreign Office confirmed that a meeting between Pakistan’s National Security Advisor Lt. General (retd) Nasir Khan Janjua and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval took place in pleasant and constructive atmosphere.
It was also agreed that the constructive engagement will be carried forward.
The meeting is a major breakthrough given that the two sides had engaged in mutual blame game earlier in September this year resulting in cancellation of the NSA-level talks and stalling the interaction process as was agreed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in July in Russian city of Ufa.
The meeting comes in wake of reports that India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is likely to visit Pakistan next week for a regional conference on Afghanistan.
Last month, Pakistan extended an invitation to the top Indian diplomat for a ministerial meeting of the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process to be held in Islamabad on December 8 and 9.
