Indo-Pak foreign secretaries may meet in US this week

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Secretaries of Pakistan and India are meeting in Californian American city San Francisco this week as Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhary and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar have reached the United States where they will be attending Sherpa meeting for Nuclear Security Summit, slated for March 31-April 1 in Washington to be hosted by US President Barrack Obama.

The summit is the initiative of Obama and it would be the last summit under his auspices. Well placed diplomatic sources told The News here on Thursday late evening that the tentative meeting of the two Foreign Secretaries is being held on the sidelines of Sherpa to discuss their schedule for formal meeting to be held in Islamabad likely next month to draw schedule for two countries composite comprehensive dialogue on various pillars of it.

The sources confirmed that officials belonging to 52 countries have already reached for the Sherpa meeting including Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhary. Indian Foreign Office spokesman Vikas Swarup was approached in New Delhi and Indian high commissioner designated for Pakistan Goutam Bambawale here in Islamabad to ascertain the movement of their Foreign Secretary but their phone numbers weren’t responding about mid-night Thursday.

The sources have indicated that the Foreign Secretaries of Pakistan and India could have interaction on the brinks of the Sherpa early next week for informal discussion on the bilateral subjects.

Both the countries have decided to keep their officials contacts away from the media glare to avoid any misgiving but the sources confirmed to this scribe that Indian Foreign Secretary will dash to Islamabad in the second week of next month for their deferred meeting. The National Security Advisors (NSAs) of the two Prime Ministers namely General (R) Nasser Khan Janjua and Ajit Doval are in communication with each other. It is likely that the schedule of the visit by Indian Foreign Secretary would be announced next week.

Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhary will be returning home Thursday next (Feb. 4), the sources added. On Foreign Secretary-level talks after the Pathankot terror attack, Advisor to Pakistan Prime Minister on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz said that they are still waiting for India's response.

Speaking to Indian media, Sartaj Aziz said, "We are still waiting for India to suggest the dates for the Foreign Secretary-level talks. The ball is in India's court." The Foreign Secretary-level talks which were to be held on January 15 in Islamabad are mired in murky waters after the fatal Pathankot terror attack.