ISLAMABAD, Oct 3: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri and his Indian counterpart Natwar Singh on Monday took diplomacy to Nathiagali hill station in an attempt to untie the knots in Indo-Pakistan relations in splendid isolation.
There are indications that they may have succeeded in making some headway on Siachen and Sir Creek issues in the relaxing and more inspiring environs of Nathiagali.
After wrapping up formal talks at the Foreign Office on Monday both the foreign ministers flew to Nathiagali in a special helicopter for a marathon session away from the media glare. Foreign secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan and his Indian counterpart Shyam Saran, Indian High Commissioner Shivshankar Menon and Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Aziz Ahmed Khan were also part of this exclusive diplomatic retreat.
They spent more than four hours at the palatial governor’s house in Nathiagali where the NWFP governor Commander Khalilur Rehman played their host.
After an elaborate lunch the foreign ministers had a long informal session, initially with their aides and later alone. Their one-to-one meeting went on for about 75 minutes. On top of the menu was Jammu and Kashmir as well as peace and security. A roadmap for the resolution of Siachen and Sir Creek issues was also discussed, it is learnt.
Significantly, it is after 45 years that Nathiagali became the venue for informal Indo-Pakistan parleys. The first time was in September 1960 when Field Martial Ayub Khan and Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru went there for talks after signing of the bilateral water-sharing Indus Waters Treaty.
Even then Kashmir was a topic of discussion. According to a senior Pakistani journalist was there to cover the event Ayub Khan while pointing to the mountains behind which lay Kashmir had reminded the Indian prime minister that they had to resolve the issue.—Q.A.
