New Delhi/Islamabad, Feb. 23: Thursday’s talks between India and Pakistan are expected to be more in the nature of foreign office consultations, with no inter-ministerial representatives in attendance. It would be similar to the September
2009 meeting between the two foreign secretaries on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Pakistan had injected a degree of uncertainty by insisting on including officials from its power, water and interior ministries, but it is since understood to have relented. Pakistan on Tuesday dropped the two officials from the interior and water ministries from its eight-member delegation, which will leave for India on Wednesday, officials sources said in Islamabad. "There were concerns from India regarding participation of these officials (from the interior and water) ministries in the talks. They (India) may not want to highlight these issues too much," a senior Pakistan government official told this newspaper in Islamabad. "Pakistan has accepted the Indian demand and included two more officials from the foreign ministry in the delegation," he added. But ministry of external affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vishnu Prakash categorically rejected the statement that New Delhi had demanded that Islamabad drop the officials from the interior, power and water ministries, saying it was factually incorrect and absolutely baseless.
India will go in for Thursday’s talks with the single-minded purpose of raising its concerns about terrorism emanating from Pakistan. At the same time, it will be open to discussions on other issues that may be raised by the Pakistan side.
The Indian delegation, led by foreign secretary Nirupama Rao, will comprise Mr Y.K. Sinha, joint secretary in charge of Pakistan, and other MEA. The Pakistan side will comprise its foreign secretary Salman Bashir, director-general of the South Asia division Afrasiab, and a few other diplomats. MEA spokesman Vishnu Prakash and his Pakistan counterpart Abdul Basit will be joining their official delegations.
Pakistan foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit, meanwhile, also denied that India had made any demand to change the delegation members. "There have been changes in the eight-member team but it is not under Indian pressure," he said in Islamabad. Pakistan and India recently held talks on water in Pakistan and another round is expected in March in India.
The divergence of perceptions on the composition of the delegation would come as an avoidable distraction, especially after the two sides sparred over the ambit and nature of
talks. Pakistan wanted the talks to conform to the format of the composite dialogue process, which was disrupted after the Mumbai attacks, but India maintained that the discussions would be exploratory in nature.
The Pakistan delegation can be expected to reach here on Wednesday. A Hurriyat delegation comprising Mirwaiz Umar Farooq is expected to meet the Pakistan delegation here ahead of the foreign secretary-level talks.
In Beijing, meanwhile, Pakistan foreign minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that "Pakistan wants a meaningful dialogue with India". He said the foreign secretary-level talks on February 25 would be an exploratory meeting.
Ramesh Ramachandran and Shafqat Ali