The fifth round of Pakistan-India “composite dialogue” is set to kick off in New Delhi tomorrow with the foreign secretary-level talks related to “peace and security including Confidence Building Measures (CBMs)” and “Jammu and Kashmir.”
Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir will arrive in New Delhi tonight for crucial talks with his Indian counterpart Shivshnakar Menon the next day. Implementation of various conventional, nuclear and cross-border (Line of Control) CBMs will be reviewed and possible new CBMs will be discussed.
The talks take place in the shadow of last week’s car bomb attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul which New Delhi has blamed on Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Islamabad has denied any role in the deadly blasts that killed four Indians, including a diplomat and military attache of brigadier rank, and 54 Afghans in the first major attack on Indian assets abroad. The issue of the alleged complicity of the Pakistani spy agency in the suicide attack in Kabul will figure prominently during discussions between the two foreign secretaries.
Early this week, a team from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) canceled its meeting with Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), set for July-end, to underscore its concerns at the alleged flow of terrorism from across the border.
The visit was canceled days after National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan said that New Delhi had “pretty good evidence” of the ISI’s suspected involvement in the car bomb attack on the Indian mission.
PHOTO CAPTION
Indian Airforce jets on the wing. (AFP)
ARABNEWS