ISLAMABAD: Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao arrived here on Wednesday evening for talks with her Pakistani counterpart, Salman Bashir, in a bid to bridge the trust deficit between the two countries and finalise the agenda for ministerial dialogue in mid-July.
Both sides are approaching the renewed engagement pragmatically; glad to be back at the negotiating table but careful not to raise hopes of any breakthrough. This chariness was evident with officials on both sides refusing to confirm whether there would be a joint press conference after the formal talks.
“You know how it is with Indo-Pak talks; nothing can be said for sure till the last minute but we have told the Indian side that arrangements can be made for a joint press stakeout at short notice,” said a Foreign Office official.
Personal equation
Much is being made of the personal equation between the Foreign Secretaries since the time they worked as counterparts in their countries' missions in Beijing. The Foreign Office is also seeking comfort in the tone and tenor of the statements that have come out of New Delhi; in particular the positive references to the stalled composite dialogue process in Ms. Rao's speech at the Afghanistan-India-Pakistan trialogue earlier this month.
Given that India's refusal to resume the composite dialogue has resulted in Pakistan dropping its insistence on nomenclature and, instead, using the phrase ‘sustained dialogue', Islamabad sees in Ms. Rao's speech a change in attitude.
Similarly, statements from the Indian External Affairs Ministry that New Delhi was approaching the talks in an exploratory manner instead of adopting an accusatory tone is also being viewed as a positive development; so much so that some here feel that both countries are almost speaking in one voice.
