India and Pakistan will hold Foreign Secretary level talks in Delhi on Tuesday, first time after the attack on Pathankot airbase in January. Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and his counterpart Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry will meet on the sidelines of the 'Heart of Asia' conference which is being held in Delhi.
The issues affecting the bilateral ties including the Pathankot terror strike are likely to be discussed during the meeting. According to sources, the focus of the talks would be on the investigation into the Pathankot terror strike and a possible visit by NIA team to Pakistan in this connection.
This will be first formal meeting between Jaishankar and Chaudhry after the announcement of Bilateral Comprehensive Dialogue (CBD) by the Foreign Ministers in Islamabad in December 2015. The two secretaries had a informal brief interaction during a SAARC meeting in Nepal in March 2016.
The efforts to resume CBD at the Foreign Secretary-level hit a deadlock after the terrorist attack on the Pathankot airbase in January that India claims was carried out by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group.
The meeting comes in the backdrop of Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit's recent comments that the bilateral peace process was suspended. The remark evoked a sharp reaction by Indian side, which maintained that communication channels were on at various levels but also made it clear it wants to see action on terror and Pathankot first before the dialogue could be resumed.
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