ISLAMABAD, July 16: The Foreign Office on Sunday confirmed that New Delhi had formally conveyed to Islamabad its decision to call off the July 21 peace talks between top officials of the two foreign ministries.
“Yes, our High Commission in New Delhi was informed about it,” Foreign Office spokesperson told Dawn on Sunday when asked if Pakistan had received a formal intimation about postponement of the foreign secretary-level talks due in New Delhi.
Apparently it was Mr. Dilip Sinha, Joint secretary (Pakistan) at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs who, informed Pakistan’s Deputy High Commissioner over the phone about it on Saturday evening.
According to informed sources the official did not cite any specific reason for the postponement and said a decision on fresh dates would be taken later.
The Indian decision to defer the high-level talks indefinitely has prompted foreign secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan to hold a Press Conference on Monday afternoon to give Pakistan’s reaction.
Senior officials on Sunday hoped that the Indo-Pakistan dialogue process would remain on course and the two countries soon return to the negotiating table.
The Pakistani and Indian foreign secretaries were scheduled to meet in New Delhi to review the third round of the composite dialogue and chalk out a roadmap for the next one. The foreign secretaries, will, however have an opportunity to meet in Bangladesh at the end of this month. They will be in Dhaka on July 30 for the Saarc Standing Committee’s meeting that will be followed by the Saarc Council of Ministers’ meeting.
Reuters adds: A top Indian foreign ministry official told Reuters in New Delhi on Sunday: “We told them the environment is not conducive” for talks.
The decision to postpone the talks, however, did not mean that the peace process had been called off, the official said.
“We are still committed to making peace with them. But they have to show that they can keep their promises to end terrorism before we can move forward,” he said.
