Pakistan has been insisting on third party mediation on the Kashmir issue, a demand outrightly rejected by India which wants it to be dealt bilaterally. But chairman of the Pakistan People's Party that leads the ruling coalition had said recently that the ties between the two countries should not be held hostage to the Kashmir issue, which should be left for future generations to resolve.
The new approach should not be construed as putting the Kashmir issue on the back-burner. 'There are areas like trade where we feel we need to move on to the mutual benefit of both the countries,' Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said in an interview with Dawn News channel.
According to the photos published by the Pakistani media, Swaraj and Qureshi were seen seated next to each other.
On being asked about the Swaraj-Qureshi meeting, the MEA sources said the two leaders only exchanged pleasantries.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Quershi has asked the US to help Islamabad fight the Taliban, saying his government is "very determined to eliminate sanctuaries of the extremists on its soil".
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao has met Home Secretary G K Pillai against the backdrop of apparent differences between the ministry of external affairs and the ministry of home affairs in connection with the Indo-Pak talks held recently. Rao met Pillai on Thursday and is understood to have briefed him about the recent talks between External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
Qureshi said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj sent a letter on Sunday to congratulate Prime Minister Imran Khan and mentioned about talks to resolve issues.
Pakistan has negated claims that the Kashmir issue was close to settlement through backchannel diplomacy between Islamabad and New Delhi, with the country's foreign minister saying there was no mention of such developments in the records of the Foreign Office.
'India has no hesitation in condemning terrorism anywhere in the world including in Karachi'
India conveyed to Pakistan on Friday, that bilateral ties were under "considerable stress" due to terrorism emanating from its soil. In the second high-level meeting between the two countries, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna met his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the sidelines of the G-8 Foreign ministers meeting in Trieste, Italy and reviewed the current status of Indo-Pak relations.
Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Noor-Ul-Haq Qadri was seen seated near Saeed as he addressed an All Parties Conference organised by the Difa-e-Pakistan Council on Sunday.
The London Conference on Afghanistan will be an occasion which India could use to showcase its massive humanitarian efforts in war-ravaged countries, which many diplomats believe is "undervalued" and little understood by the international community. India is providing US $ 1.3 billion in aid to improve infrastructure, education and medical health of the beleaguered country.
Pakistani editors and analysts believe that India's stickiness to the sole issue of Mumbai attacks led to the failure of the talks.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi, foreign minister of Pakistan, spoke to Karan Thapar on issues ranging from the spread of Taliban to the investigations into the Mumbai terror attacks and the trust deficit between New Delhi and Islamabad.
The decision was approved by Prime Minister Imran Khan in view of the tense situation in Kashmir, the minister told state broadcaster PTV.
Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were sentenced to 14 years in prison on Wednesday in a corruption case for retaining expensive state gifts when he was in power, dealing another blow to the jailed former premier, a day after he was handed a 10-year jail term for leaking sensitive state secrets.
The army chief also made it clear that a decision in this regard has to be taken by the government.
Responding to questions on Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan quoting a European Union disinformation lab report to accuse India of subversive activities through fake media organisations and similar allegations by Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said that as a responsible democracy, India does not practice disinformation campaigns.
Qureshi said the matter will be taken up during Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to the country on September 5.
Despite the blasts, Pranab Mukherjee's Pakistan visit is crucial.
India on Thursday put on Pakistan the onus of unveiling the conspiracy behind the terror attack on Mumbai and ruled out meaningful dialogue till concrete action is taken against those responsible. The firm message was sent out by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna. "It is in our vital interest to normalise our relations with Pakistan. However, we are at a stage where it is for Pakistan to determine the kind of relationship that it wants to have with India," Krishna said.
The foreign minister said the conversation between the two leaders was held in a 'cordial environment'.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, in a telephonic conversation with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Tuesday, "recalled France's constant position on Kashmir", which being that "it is up to the two countries (Indian and Pakistan), under the framework of their bilateral political dialogue, to resolve this dispute so as to establish lasting peace."
Chaudhry, the former information minister, said that the decision was taken in a meeting of the lawmakers of the party ahead of prime minister's elections for which the party has nominated ex-foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
Both the countries have deployed their big guns for the 'diplomatic offensive'.
The India-Pakistan ties nose-dived in recent years with no bilateral talks taking place. The ties between the two countries had strained after Pakistan-based terror groups launched attacks in India in 2016.
It is also learnt that Khan congratulated Modi on his election victory during their first face-to-face interaction.
The foreign minister acknowledged that he spoke with Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz and India should not make it an issue.
Khan proposed a meeting between Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York this month.
Though Bajwa met Saudi Arabia's Deputy Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Saudi Arabia's military chief of staff General Fayyad bin Hamid Al-Ruwaili, he failed to meet the crown prince.
The report quoted Khan as saying that he 'tried to call Modi last night' (Wednesday).
The NC leader urged both India and Pakistan to resume their dialogue "for everyone's greater good".
India has maintained that there can be no talks with Pakistan unless it stops supporting terrorists.
Pak claimed that the Indian Prime Minister's 'internal politics' do not permit him to extend an invitation to his Pakistani counterpart.
This is the second time after Modi was re-elected to power that the Pakistani premier has expressed his desire to work together with India for the betterment of their peoples.
As a mark of respect to the CRPF jawans who lost their lives in the Pulawama terrorist attack last month, Indian cricketers sported the Army cap and also donated their match fee for the welfare of the families of the martyrs.
'The Indian version is that the two top diplomats merely exchanged pleasantries, while the Pakistani side characterised the encounter as an 'informal dialogue'.' 'The truth, as always in such piquant situations, is somewhere in between.' 'It stands to reason that ice has been broken,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
"We reaffirm that Jammu & Kashmir is an integral part of India and is a matter strictly internal to India," spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Raveesh Kumar said.
Khan's visit evoked considerable interest in Beijing as it comes in the wake of his past criticism of the USD 50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects and remarks by his ministers to cut down some of the projects over debt concern.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced on Monday that his government will allow India to send a humanitarian shipment of 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat to neighbouring Afghanistan through its territory after finalisation of the transit modalities.
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