Aziz, Swaraj may meet in Nepal: Report

Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj may meet on the sidelines of a SAARC ministerial-level meeting in Nepal this week, according to a media report today.
Quoting diplomatic sources, The Express Tribune reported that India and Pakistan were exploring the possibility of a meeting between Swaraj and Aziz and also between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in the Nepalese tourist city of Pokhara.
Aziz and Swaraj will be in Pokhara for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Council of Foreign Ministers' meeting on March 16 and 17.

A senior Pakistani official, while speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Islamabad was ready to resume the dialogue at any time, and was also open to a meeting between Aziz and Swaraj in Nepal.
"There is no proposal as of now for the meeting in Nepal but Pakistan will respond positively if India approaches us for this purpose," the Pakistani official said.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup last week said that no schedule of bilateral meetings in Nepal have been drawn up with Pakistan or any other country.

The meetings, if held, will provide an opportunity to the two sides to discuss the much-delayed talks between the foreign secretaries, who were to meet in Islamabad in January.

The key foreign secretary-level talks are meant to draw up a roadmap for a series of meetings between the two countries on a range of issues, including Kashmir, peace and security, Siachen, Sir Creek, water, and trade and commerce.
The efforts to resume the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue hit a deadlock after the terror attack on Pathankot airbase that India has said was carried out by militants from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad militant group.
Sources said Aziz and Swaraj, if they meet, will discuss the possibility of an interaction between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi later this month in Washington.

On statements by Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed
that the ongoing protests in Kashmir would be intensified and warning that the deaths in the region would not be in vain, Swarup said it was incumbent upon Pakistan to reign-in such elements because if there has to be durable peace, such elements have to be controlled.
Asked if apart from Pakistan, any other Muslim country has raised Kashmir situation with India, he said there has been a statement by Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in this regard. "No locus standi and we don't need any gratis advice from anyone," he retorted.

Yesterday, OIC issued a statement saying it "condemned, in the strongest terms, the killing of at least thirty civilians and injuring hundreds of others at the peaceful demonstrations being held to protest the killing on 8th July 2016 of Kashmiri leader Wani by the Indian security forces."
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Asked about Chairman of the Pakistan People's Party
Bilawal Bhutto calling up separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to express solidarity with the people of Kashmir, Swarup said there there was no role for any third party in resolving issues between India and Pakistan.
He was also asked whether Bhutto's call to the Mirwaiz was not unusual as Pakistani envoy usually talks to Hurriyat leaders.