Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz arrived here on Saturday evening, ahead of his scheduled arrival for the Heart of Asia conference on Sunday morning, due to weather conditions, senior officials told The Hindu .
Mr. Aziz’s early arrival also raised speculation that he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi would meet for more than the customary welcome handshake, as he is attending a dinner hosted by Mr. Modi for conference delegates.
“We advised Mr. Aziz to come early given the fog factor in the morning,” a Pakistani diplomat told The Hindu , referring to visibility issues that have delayed dozens of flights to north Indian cities including Amritsar. The forecast for Sunday morning was a visibility of 600M, far below the stipulated 1000M clearance VIP flight controllers normally insist on, another official said.
“There’s no meeting between Modi and Aziz”
While he avoided the fog, Mr. Aziz’s visit is not expected to dispel the chill between India and Pakistan over terror attacks including the latest terror strike on Nagrota base that left 7 jawans dead, and taking the casualties since the Uri attack to cross 20.
“There is no meeting,” a senior official told The Hindu , when asked about the chance of a ‘pull-aside’ meeting between Mr. Modi and Mr. Aziz in Amritsar, indicating only a joint call-on was scheduled.
Welcoming the ministerial dignitaries to the conference, Mr. Modi told Mr. Aziz and foreign ministers of Afghanistan, Iran, Kyrgyztan and Slovakia that it was the region’s “collective responsibility” to help Afghanistan.
“PM stressed the need to end terrorism and violence for fostering stability, security, and development in Afghanistan and our region,” MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, describing the meeting.
Earlier this week, the MEA had said that separate talks with Pakistan were not possible amidst “continued terrorism” by Pakistan, referring to the latest terror strike on Nagrota base which left seven Army personnel dead, and the number of military casualties in such attacks since the Uri attack crossed 20.
India and Afghanistan are expected to seek once again pin down Pakistan on terrorism, with an effort to ensure a draft declaration at the conference will include stringent language against “cross-border terrorism”, and “sanctuaries for terror groups”.
The conference will be jointly inaugurated by Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and Mr. Modi, who will also hold a bilateral meeting, their fourth such meeting this year. The two leaders are expected to discuss enhancing India’s military assistance to Afghanistan, the development of Iran’s Chabahar port for trade as well as an “air cargo” agreement to work around obstacles posed by Pakistan to transit trade.
Ahead of the Ministerial conference, senior officials of the 15 participants of the Heart of Asia–Istanbul process, met on Saturday to finalise the Amritsar declaration to be adopted by the countries that include Russia, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, UAE and Central Asian states.
Speaking at the conference, Afghanistan’s deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai urged countries to adopt a “Heart of Asia Counter Terror Strategy”.
“Terrorism endangers the stability of the region and poses serious obstacles to the implementation of our key regional projects. That is why there is an urgent need for a unified HoA approach to fight this menace,” Mr. Karzai said at the meet chaired by Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar.
India and Afghanistan’s counter-terror proposals to corner Pakistan may face some push back from close allies of Pakistan like China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, diplomats present at the conference said, but the cooperation between both countries was on full display in Amritsar.
On Sunday night, shortly after they both landed, Mr. Modi and Mr. Ghani also visited the Harmandar Sahib Golden Temple together, where the Prime Minister served “langar” or food cooked in the communal kitchens to pilgrims gathered. They then proceeded to a local restaurant ‘Sadda Pind’ for the official dinner hosted by Ministers of State M.J. Akbar and General V.K. Singh.
After the conference and bilateral meeting between Mr. Modi and Mr. Ghani on Sunday, a joint press conference will be held by Afghan Deputy FM Karzai, and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who is officiating on behalf of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who is unwell. Significantly, shortly after his arrival in Amritsar, Sartaj Aziz sent a bouquet of flowers to Ms. Swaraj’s residence in Delhi to wish her a speedy recovery.
