According to a statement by the Indian foreign ministry on Thursday, Pakistan and India’s foreign ministers will hold a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly this month.
This meeting would be the first high-level meeting between the two neighbours in years and the holding of this meeting was decided after Pakistan Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan had written to his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi; suggesting their foreign ministers meet in New York to try to break an impasse in ties.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), ruling party in India led by Indian PM Modi, has long advocated a tough stance toward Pakistan. With the BJP gearing for elections by the middle of next year, prospects of a rapprochement are low.
The Modi government has constantly alleged that Pakistan should act against anti-India Islamist militant groups before resuming peace talks to resolve long standing differences over the Himalayan region of Kashmir and other disputes. Pakistan has denied aiding attacks in India, saying that the country is fighting militant groups for its own security.
Indian foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said that New Delhi had agreed to a meeting between Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
The spokesperson played down hopes of a full resumption in talks between the neighbours. “This is just a meeting, too much should not be read into the proposed meeting,” Kumar said. “This is not a resumption of dialogue. They asked for a meeting, we said yes.”