NEW DELHI: Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj waded through intense friendly fire from her rightwing peers on Monday to reach Islamabad on Tuesday for a multilateral meeting on Afghanistan.

“Terrorist attacks are going on throughout and India itself says that Pakistan is behind them. So what is the point then (in holding the talks), former fellow Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) foreign minister Yashwant Sinha said.

“The government owes it to the people of this country to tell them why they are resuming the dialogue,” he added.

Also read: India's FM to visit Pakistan tomorrow

The BJP’s ally Shiv Sena also criticised the secret NSA level talks in Bangkok last week. The Congress echoed Mr Sinha’s objection.

The NSAs have linked the resumption of the talks to the icebreaker in Paris between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif. Then the thaw in Bangkok with the National Security Adviser level talks. And now, Ms Swaraj is leaving for Islamabad to attend a conference on Afghanistan.

The Congress has attacked the government for the secrecy surrounding Sunday’s Bangkok meeting between National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart Lt Gen Nasir Janjua. Ms Swaraj may make a statement in Parliament after returning from Pakistan. “There was a meeting too between NaMo and Nawaz Sharif at the climate change talk,” Congress’ Anand Sharma told Rajya Sabha. “Yesterday, the NSA advisers met along with foreign ministers... Parliament should have been informed and still should be informed regarding the whole matter.”

“I don’t want to make any comment on issues related to external affairs,” said Union minister Venkaiah Naidu. “These are sensitive matters. As and when necessary they can be taken up in Parliament in course of time. The Congress has a lot of experience, they have been dealing with this for years, so they can make any statement they like.”

Sources told NDTV that the dialogue between the two countries could pave the way for a visit by PM Modi to Pakistan late next year for the Saarc summit. The summit will be called off if any one country doesn’t attend.

The secret NSA talks on Sunday found a way to articulate the concern of both countries. So Jammu and Kashmir was discussed and put in the joint statement — its absence had caused a huge uproar in Pakistan last time. Indian officials insisted that the reference to Jammu and Kashmir was only in the context of security.

The NSAs will meet again soon, but in keeping with the new policy of staying away from the media spotlight. No detail will be shared till it happens, NDTV said.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2015