By Islamuddin Sajid
ISLAMABAD (AA)— As the ceasefire between two nuclear-armed South Asian neighbors sustains, India and Pakistan have expressed diverging agendas for any possible bilateral talks.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday said any discussions with Islamabad would “solely revolve around Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.”
“There would be neither trade nor talks with Pakistan,” Modi told a public rally in the Bikaner area of western Rajasthan state, which borders Pakistan.
A day earlier, Modi’s Pakistani counterpart, Shehbaz Sharif, told reporters in Islamabad: “Kashmir, water, trade and terrorism will be the key points during Pakistan-India talks.”
Earlier, Modi had said any talks with Pakistan would only be about “terrorism” and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
While the two neighbors differ on the agenda of talks, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday told reporters in Islamabad the ceasefire with New Delhi continues as the two military officials are in contact with each other “to return to peacetime.”
Regarding the expected dialogue between the two archrivals, Dar said that Islamabad “is always ready, but talks could begin when India shows its readiness.”
The talks around the revival of possible bilateral dialogue between the two come after New Delhi and Islamabad saw the worst military escalation in decades early this month when on the night of May 06 India fired missiles inside Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, hitting what New Delhi said were "nine terror locations.”
In its retaliation on May 10, Islamabad said it hit 26 Indian military targets inside its eastern neighbor as well as in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Soon, US President Donald Trump that day said Washington had mediated a ceasefire between the nuclear-armed states, which continues to this day, and the rival armies later decided to continue “confidence-building measures to reduce alertness level.”
After Trump’s statement on ceasefire, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the governments of India and Pakistan “agreed to an immediate ceasefire and to start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site.”
The statements from New Delhi and Islamabad regarding the agenda of possible talks come while no date or location of any such talks has been agreed upon between the two.