Islamabad 8 Aug : Backchannel talks between Pakistan and India have come to a dead conclusion as both sides have had to come to an agreement over actions that could allow for a slow but steady progress in relations, a report in the media quoted an informed source as saying. “Talks are ongoing, but they have come to a point where there isn’t any movement,” The Express Tribune report quoted the source as saying.
There is an effort from both sides to end the impasse, but the question is how to proceed from here according to the source.
What has slowed this process is the uncertainty over the political landscape in Pakistan, The Express Tribune reported.
There was some glimmer of optimism for a possible change in the relationship after the change of the government in Pakistan in April.
The reason for the optimism was the fact that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was one of the first leaders to offer congratulations to his Pakistani counterpart Shehbaz Sharif after the latter was elected in April.
The source also said backchannel communications that started at the time of the PTI government’s time grew in speed in April following the transition of government.
However, even with “intense” diplomatic maneuvers in the back channel the two sides refused to give up a single inch in their disagreements.
Pakistan is insistent to ensure that India should take steps with in relation to Kashmir prior to any sort of normalisation of relations begins.New Delhi, however, is more interested in Islamabad first looking into the possibility of returning to bilateral trade, The Express Tribune quoted the source as saying.
The rift in the relationship stopped Pakistani and Indian foreign ministers from having a dialogue with one another during the most recent session of Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Tashkent.
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