India, Pak failed to fix date for next round of talks: Sartaj Aziz

Islamabad, March 7: Pakistan's advisor to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz has said the recent foreign secretary-level dialogue with India failed to fix a date for the next round of talks.

Aziz was talking to media yesterday about Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar's visit after attending launching ceremony of a book by Lt-Gen (retd) Abdul Majeed Malik here.

"There was no date fixed for the next round of talks," he said, commenting on the outcome of the meeting. Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam used the term "ice-breaking" while summing-up the Tuesday discussions, a view with which Indian sources concurred.

In August, India had called-off foreign secretary-level talks at the eleventh hour because the Pakistan High Commissioner in New Delhi held consultations with Kashmiri separatists.

During the recent parleys, the two sides raised their "concerns" but there was little progress on the much-hoped resumption of peace talks.

Aziz also said that Chinese President Xi Jinping would not attend the Pakistan Day parade on March 23 but visit later. "The dates for the trip are being negotiated through diplomatic channels," Aziz said.

PTI