India has asked Pakistan to stop being in denial on terror while seeking action on the 26/11 and Pathankot attacks. Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar told his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry that terror groups cannot be allowed to operate with impunity when the two officials met in New Delhi on Tuesday, according to Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup.
Jaishankar clearly conveyed that terrorism will affect bilateral ties. While emphasising the need for "early and visible progress" in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and Pathankot, India also sought details of the progress in the probe against Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar.
Even as Chaudhry once again raked up Kashmir, Jaishankar denied India's involvement in the insurgency in Pakistan's Balochistan. Jaishankar also added that former naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was arrested in Pakistan on charges of espionage, has a right to consular access adding that no nation would dispatch a spy with his own passport.
But Pakistan maintained that Kashmir remained a core issue and stressed on the Samjhauta Express blasts probe, saying it was concerned over the environment created to release the prime accused adding that India has not shared any investigation report. During the talks Chaudhry said that Kashmir "required a just solution in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolutions and wishes of Kashmiri people".
The meeting was the first Foreign Secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan after the terror attack at the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot in January 2016.
This is also the first time the two foreign secretaries are meeting after the announcement of Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue (CBD) by the Foreign Ministers in Islamabad in December 2015. The two secretaries had an informal brief interaction during a SAARC meeting in Nepal in March 2016.
The efforts to resume CBD at the Foreign Secretary-level hit a deadlock after the Pathankot attack that India said was carried out by terrorists from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror group.
Jaishankar was scheduled to travel to Islamabad to hold talks with Chaudhary on January 15 but both the countries had announced deferment of the talks with "mutual consent" in the wake of the Pathankot attack.
The meeting came in the backdrop of Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit's recent comments that the bilateral peace process was suspended, evoking a sharp reaction by Indian side.
India has been maintaining that communication channels were on at various levels but also made it clear it wants to see action on terror and Pathankot first before the dialogue could be resumed.
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