Imran letter to Modi spurs diplomacy

​Islamabad/New Delhi: Immediately after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has written a letter to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi seeking to re-start the bilateral talks on key issues challenging both the nations, India on Thursday agreed that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will meet her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) session that begins later this month -- the first such high-level interaction between the neighbours after three years.

"I can confirm that on the request from the Pakistani side a meeting between the two foreign ministers will take place on the sidelines of the UNGA at a mutually convenient date and time. "We have just agreed to the meeting. The Permanent Missions of both India and Pakistan will together work out the details. Till then, what will be discussed in the meeting, we will have to wait till the meeting takes place," External Affairs Ministry (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told the weekly media briefing here. Kumar suggested that the coming meeting was not resumption of the dialogue process.

In the letter dated September 14, Imran Khan, proposed a meeting between Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York this month. "Building on the mutual desire for peace between our two countries, I wish to propose a meeting between Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, before the informal meeting of the SAARC foreign ministers at the sidelines of the upcoming UN General Assembly in New York," Khan wrote. 

Pakistan and India have an "undeniably challenging relationship", he said, while responding to Modi's letter to him on August 18. In the letter to Khan, Modi conveyed India's commitment to pursue "meaningful" and "constructive" engagement with Pakistan and emphasising the need to work for a terror-free South Asia. Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said on Twitter: "PM (Imran Khan) has responded to PM Modi, in a positive spirit, reciprocating his sentiments. Let's talk and resolve all issues. We await formal response from India".