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Pak-India Talks
In a recent development, scheduled meeting between India and Pakistan’s foreign secretaries this week has been delayed, while new date for meeting has not been announced either. Indian Foreign Office spokesperson told media that the decision to reschedule the talks has been made mutually, and is not a unilateral decision by India. The decision came after attack on Indian Airbase in Pathankot followed by arrest of Jaish-e- Mohammad members in Pakistan, which had been accused by India of being involved in the attack on the Pathankot airbase. Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar and his aides were detained this week.
Meanwhile Indian government welcomed Pakistan’s action against the banned outfit and formation of a special investigation team to probe air base attack and announced that it will cooperate with Pakistan in the inquiry. Earlier Prime Minister Nawaz had assured Indian Prime Minister Modi that Islamabad would not hesitate to take “prompt and decisive action” if the involvement of Pakistan-based elements in the attack on the Indian airbase was proved beyond doubt.
Pakistan is also considering sending a special investigation team to Pathankot to gather more information to carry forward the process of cooperation with India.
Afghan Peace Talks
Opening session of the quadrilateral group, for peace talks with Afghan Taliban was held on Monday in Pakistan. Top officials from Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and the United States met in Islamabad to finalise a roadmap to re- start stalled peace process in Afghanistan where Pakistan told the participants that no precondition should be attached for peace talks.
Pakistan’s Secretary for Foreign Affairs Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, who led the delegation, said the reconciliation process has to be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned as an externally imposed settlement is neither desirable nor it would be sustainable. He also said that the role of Pakistan, China and the United States was basically to facilitate the process.
A previous round of talks broke down in July after it became known that the Taliban’s founder and leader, Mullah Omar, had actually been dead for two years. Meanwhile Afghanistan’s chief negotiator in peace talks said he was hopeful Taliban insurgents would join the process.
Economic Corridor
Government of Pakistan is yet not been able to satisfy provinces over China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Opposition and political parties from Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been showing concerns over route and their share in this project. This week another all-parties conference (APC) was held which was hosted by Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) to discuss the reservations of Balochistan regarding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.. A declaration issued after the conference demanded that the promises made by the prime minister to the provinces on the CPEC project must be fulfilled in true letter and spirit. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak complained that his government presented the resolution for construction of Western route of the CPEC but he never got any response from the central government.
Meanwhile Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was a window of opportunity that would bring socio-economic development particularly in least developed provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In a meeting with a group of Chinese investors, it was also informed that a joint working group was being formulated under CPEC framework under which all provinces were being consulted to give technically sound and financially viable recommendations of industrial and economic zone.
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