New Delhi, Dec 31 (Inditop.com) Amid the chill in India-Pakistan ties, two senior Pakistani politicians will be in India next week for a multilateral meet, but use the opportunity to make a renewed pitch for the resumption of the stalled composite dialogue.
Fahmeeda Mirza, the first woman speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly, and Farooq Ahmed, deputy chairman of the Pakistani Senate, will come to India on a six-day visit to attend the 20th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers (CSPOC) of the Commonwealth beginning Monday.
A veteran politician, Mirza is a doctor by profession and enjoys close equations with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari.
Although no special meeting with Indian officials outside the purview of the conference has been planned so far, the two Pakistani politicians are likely to use their interactions in India to underline the need for resuming talks that stalled after the Nov 26, 2008, terror attacks.
Pakistan High Commissioner Shahid Malik will be hosting a dinner for the visiting Pakistani delegation Wednesday, where the Hurriyat leaders have also been invited.
A statement from Hurriyat Conference (M) issued here has said that Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, along with the executive members of the outfit, has been invited to meet the Pakistani leaders in New Delhi.
“The Hurriyat members will apprise the Pakistan leadership about the political situation in Jammu and Kashmir,” the statement said.
The Hurriyat leadership is expected to meet the representatives from various countries assembled for the conference and “pressurise India for the resolution of the Kashmir issue”, the Hurriyat (M) said.
New Delhi has hardened its stand against resuming dialogue with Pakistan till Islamabad takes concrete action against 26/11 terror attack perpetrators.
The Pakistani envoy recently flagged the July 16 Sharm el-Sheikh joint statement, and said India had failed to live up to its commitment to delink action on terror from the composite dialogue process.
His remarks elicited a sharp reaction from New Delhi.
“Our position has been very clear and consistent. We have asked Pakistan to take two steps – to bring perpetrators of Mumbai attacks to justice and to ensure that terror structures in Pakistan used against our country are dismantled,” Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor told reporters last week.
The freeze in India-Pakistan ties deepened further when the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan did not meet on the sidelines of the Commonwealth summit in Trinidad and Tobago last month.
