Indian foreign secretary to visit Pakistan for talks

Islamabad, Dec 23: Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar is expected to visit Pakistan in mid-January for talks with his Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz, it was announced here on Wednesday,Dec 23.

Aziz himself made the announcement, with the Pakistani media saying that Islamabad had proposed January 16 for the foreign secretary talks, ARY News reported.

"Pakistan is now waiting for India's response to the proposed date," Aziz told the media. Aziz is the adviser to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on foreign affairs.

He added that the schedule for talks had been finalized.

In the meeting between Sharif and Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj here earlier this month, the latter said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Pakistan in 2016.

Both countries have agreed to reinitiate a comprehensive dialogue process, Sushma Swaraj had said.

The foreign secretaries' dialogue is expected to cover Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek, economic and commercial ties, counter-terrorism, narcotics control, people-to-people exchanges and religious tourism.

The national security advisers of Pakistan and India met in Bangkok on December 6, after a brief meeting between the prime ministers of both the countries in Paris at the World Climate Summit.

Pakistan and India have agreed to reinitiate a comprehensive dialogue process.

IANS