|
New Delhi: Ten former Indian diplomats are in Pakistan as part of "track two" efforts aimed at building friendship between the two countries.
Led by Ishrat Aziz, president of the Association of Indian Diplomats (AID), the delegation left for Islamabad on Friday night.
They are scheduled to meet Pakistan's foreign secretary, chairman of the senate foreign relations committee, the governor of Punjab and possibly some members of the newly elected government.
The visit is being viewed as a "new contact" in the plethora of Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) under way to improve diplomatic and economic relations. The visit is at the invitation of the Association of Former Diplomats (AFA) of Pakistan that sent a delegation to India in 2005. But the timing now, with the installation of a newly-elected government, is significant. This will be India's first contact - albeit informal - with the new political dispensation.
A meeting with Pakistan's new foreign minister - if appointed by then - is also on the cards. "The people of Pakistan had elected and welcomed the new democratic government, and so should we and other countries," Aziz said. Pakistan is an important neighbour "and realistic and strong bilateral ties will be in the interests of both the countries", said Aziz, a former Indian envoy to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and other countries.
AID secretary R. Rajagopalan said the Indian delegates would also hold a session with the Institute of Strategic Studies of Pakistan.
|
