Top Indian diplomat’s visit to Pakistan raises hopes for dialogue revival

SLAMABAD, March 1  (Xinhua) — Pakistan and India have officially confirmed that a top Indian diplomat will visit Islamabad on March 3, raising optimism for the revival of stalled diplomatic talks between the two countries.

The visit of Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar will be the first high-level diplomatic contact between the two nuclear neighbors in nearly seven months, reports Xinhua.

Jaishankar’s visit is seen as important because it takes place at a time when relations are tense over the current cross-border firing. Both accuse each other of violating a cease-fire in 2003.

On Friday, Pakistan’s army said, “Indian forces carried out unprovoked firing” along the Working Boundary in Sialkot, a border district in Punjab province. No one was hurt in the firing, an army statement said, adding that Pakistani forces “retaliated to the Indian firing in a befitting manner.”

The two countries’ involvement in exchange fire is seen as the major cause of diplomatic tensions that has hindered Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s initiative to maintain good relations with India and other neighbors.