Pak envoy hopes for resumption of dialogue with India

Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit on Monday expressed a desire for a resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan.

Speaking at a conference organized by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), Basit said, "Let us hope that the dialogue process between India and Pakistan resumes sooner rather than later. Our respective commerce ministers are meeting on all trade-related dialogues because trade and commerce falls under a separate framework from politics. A business delegation should travel between India and Pakistan. The government and the private sector should pursue this together."

Basit also called for a level playing field in Asia, as far as economic forums are concerned. He said, "In Asia we need to have a level playing field - unless the eight South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries do not believe that economic growth is beneficial to all of them, the organisation will not be able to sustain itself for very long. The level playing field will happen if economic activities lead us to inter-dependence, a two-way traffic. We need to transcend our tunnelled vision of each other."

But when asked if Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the near future, Basit added, "As of this moment, there is no proposal of a meeting between the leaders of the two nations."

In August, India had called off Foreign Secretary-level talks with Pakistan after Basit had held an hour-long meeting with Kashmiri separatist leaders in New Delhi.