ISLAMABAD
Amid intense US backdoor diplomacy, Pakistani National Security and Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz, who holds the foreign ministry portfolio, and Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid are slated to meet in Kyrgyzstan on September 13 in an effort to ease heightened tensions along their borders in the disputed Kashmir region and resume suspended peace talks between the two arch nuclear rivals.
"A meeting is being arranged between the two foreign ministers on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, which is going to be held in Kyrgyzstan," a senior Pakistani Foreign Office (FO) official told Anadolu Agency, asking not to be named.
"Officials on both sides are engaged in finalizing the agenda of the meeting," the official added.
Aziz and Khurshid will meet as the two countries' armies continue to engage in frequent cross-border artillery shelling on the Line of Control (LOC) along the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, which has been the root cause of two full-fledged wars – in 1948 and 1965 – between the two countries.
"The agenda of the meeting will revolve around two main points," the FO official said.
"First, to quell tension at the LOC and, secondly, to resume suspended peace talks."
The peace process between Pakistan and India was suspended following the deadly Mumbai attacks in November 2008, which killed 179 people and brought the two nuclear nations to the verge of another war.
Newly-elected Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, now serving his third term as premier, had announced a desire to resume talks with India soon after being sworn in last June.
However, a sudden flare-up of cross-border artillery shelling along the LOC dashed hopes for reviving the stalled negotiations.
Both countries blame one another for the border tensions.
The two foreign ministers will also discuss the possibility of a meeting between Sharif and Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of a UN General Assembly meeting in New York on September 27/28, the official added.
Sharif will address the assembly on September 27, while Singh's address is scheduled for the following day.
- US mediation
The FO official admits that the proposed meeting between the two ministers comes as a result of backdoor diplomacy by the United States.
"[US] Secretary of State John Kerry had personally been in touch with the two foreign ministers and managed to persuade them to come back to the table," he said.
Abdul Khalique Ali, a Karachi-based political analyst, sees a direct interest for Washington in restarting talks.
"The US needs Pakistan's services for its proposed pullout from Afghanistan by 2014 and proposed peace talks with the Taliban," he told AA. "It cannot afford Pakistan getting engaged in any other business, at least for the time being."
That said, the expert voiced doubt that the proposed meeting would lead to a positive outcome.
"No doubt this is very good news, but I do not expect anything extra out of it," Ali said.
He believes India's incumbent government will not resume peace talks with Pakistan before elections.
"Anti-Pakistan sentiment is leading the election campaign in India," he said.
"Opposition parties are openly blaming the Congress government for not doing enough to respond to Pakistan at the LOC and the killing of five Indian soldiers, allegedly by Pakistani security forces," he added.
"Therefore, in this heated atmosphere, especially when elections are only a few months away, no [Indian] government will risk resuming the peace process with Pakistan," the expert argued.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
