Peace has got another chance. India and Pakistan have decided to revive the stalled dialogue process and find ways to resolve other outstanding issues between the two countries.Both the leaders, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, in their first rare bilateral meeting in over a year, met for nearly one hour in Russia’s Ufa on Friday, July 10, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. However, there was no mention about the ‘Kashmir issue’, on which both the countries have fought several wars in the past.
The issue of terror, including the release of 26/11 mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, was discussed at the meet, television channels reported. Modi also spoke to Sharif about the infiltration attempts at the border and the economic corridor.
US has reportedly welcomed the meeting between Modi and Sharif saying a rise in tension in the contested region was in nobody’s interest. “We also welcome any steps that both countries can take to try to reduce the tensions. That’s been our longstanding position, ” US state department spokesperson John Kirby said. Soon after the meeting, foreign secretary S Jaishankar along with his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry read out a joint statement on the outcome of the much-anticipated meeting.
National security adviser Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz will meet in New Delhi to discuss all the issues connected to terrorism, the statement said.
“Both sides agreed to discuss ways and means to expedite the Mumbai case trial including additional information like providing voice samples,” the statement said.
Modi accepted Sharif’s invitation to visit Pakistan for the SAARC summit next year.