Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan for the first time ever has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for their peace talks.
In the letter, he sought the resumption of the peace talks between the 2 countries at the UN General Assembly meeting later this month in New York. In the letter, he also requested a meeting between the Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
Khan’s letter is the first formal proposal of peace talks between the 2 neighbours, and also a response to PM Modi’s letter dated the 20th of August which conveyed that New Delhi was looking for constructive and meaningful engagement with Islamabad.
The last time the 2 countries held any talks was in 2015 when Sushma Swaraj travelled to Islamabad for Heart of Asia conference.
Pakistan has confirmed that it has “engaged” with India to facilitate a bilateral meeting between Qureshi and Sushma Swaraj. Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said that no decision has been taken on the issue so far.
“We are engaged in the matter,” he said when asked about reports that Qureshi and Swaraj may hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the UNGA and whether both sides have formally approached each other.
To ease tensions with India, Pakistan had also sought US help earlier this month, saying it wanted peace on the eastern border in order to concentrate on the western border with Afghanistan. During the visit of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Qureshi had raised the issue.
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