Indian EAM, Pakistan FM to attend meet on Afghanistan in Tajikistan's Dushanbe

Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, Pakistani FM SM Qureshi will be attended the Ninth Ministerial Conference of the "Heart of Asia" in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

New Delhi: Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, Pakistani Foreign Minister SM Qureshi will be attended the 9th Ministerial Conference of the "Heart of Asia" on March 30 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. After many years both Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers will be together and will be under one roof. As of now there is no confirmation on any meeting happening between the two sides.

The development comes even as number of conciliatory comments coming from Pakistan, by their Prime Minister Imran Khan and Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa. On Thursday, speaking at the Islamabad security dialogue, Pakistani Army Chief said, "We feel it is time to bury the past and move forward". Earlier at same platform, Imran Khan talked about trade in the region can only prosper if India takes 'first step' ".

Earlier in the week, India's foreign secretary Harsh Shringla said, "India desires good neighbourly relations with Pakistan and is committed to addressing issues, if any, bilaterally and peacefully." Further he added, "Any meaningful dialogue can only be held in a conducive atmosphere and the onus is on Pakistan to create such an atmosphere."

Heart of Asia – Istanbul Process is a decade old initiative of Afghan-Turkey that has 15 countries as part of it. The initiative aims at peace in Afghanistan. Most of the countries are Afghanistan's neighbours and west Asian countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE as part of it. India hosted the same meet in 2016 in Amritsar.