Doval meets Sartaj Aziz; kindles hope of India-Pak rapprochement

India-Pakistan relations have nosedived in recent months, with unabated cross-border shelling on the Line of Control and terror attacks in J&K

Hopes of an India-Pakistan rapprochement remained alive as the Pakistanis tweeted photographs of India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Kumar Doval meeting Sartaj Aziz, the adviser on foreign affairs to the Pakistan PM, for nearly half an hour on Saturday midnight. The pictures suggested the two taking a walk at the venue and in an animated discussion. The Indians, until the time of filing of this report, neither confirmed nor denied these reports.
 

Aziz was originally scheduled to land on Sunday morning to attend the Heart of Asia conference, but advanced his itinerary to arrive here on Saturday evening. Aziz, along with foreign ministers of some other participating countries, also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday evening.
 

India-Pakistan relations have nosedived in recent months, with unabated cross-border shelling on the Line of Control and terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.
 

In his inaugural address at the conference today, which he jointly opened along with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Prime Minister Modi was muted in his criticism of Islamabad compared to his shrill attack on the neighbouring country for its support and sponsoring of terrorism during the BRICS Summit in Goa in mid-October. 
 

In Goa, Modi had called Pakistan the “mothership of terrorism”. Today, Modi said: “Silence and inaction against terrorism in Afghanistan and our region will only embolden terrorists and their masters.” He said the international community “must demonstrate strong collective will to defeat terror network that cause bloodshed and spread fear.”
 

Afghan President Ghani praised India’s “no-strings attached” help. He said the India-Iran Chahbahar port development project would help landlocked Afghanistan’s regional connectivity plans. In what was music to New Delhi’s ears, Ghani said that Pakistan’s proposed $500 million in funds for reconstruction to Afghanistan was “better served fighting terrorism”.
 

In his speech, Aziz said, without mentioning Kashmir, that “peaceful resolution of outstanding disputes will further improve regional cooperation and connectivity,” and that there was a “need to have an objective and holistic view rather than to blame one country” for the recent upsurge in violence in Afghanistan.
 

Earlier in the day, Modi and Ghani held a bilateral meeting. The two agreed to operationalize the additional US$ 1 billion Indian aid for, among other things, “a possible air corridor between India and Afghanistan to overcome obstacles to promotion of bilateral trade.” India and Afghanistan are looking at an air cargo service to improve trade.