This Article is From Nov 17, 2016

No Confirmation Yet On Pakistan's Sartaj Aziz's India Visit: Foreign Ministry

No Confirmation Yet On Pakistan's Sartaj Aziz's India Visit: Foreign Ministry

Sartaj Aziz had said that he will travel to India to "defuse" Indo-Pak tension

New Delhi: India today said it is yet to receive confirmation from Pakistan about its participation in the Heart of Asia (HoA) Conference to be held in Amritsar on December 3 and 4 which a top aide to its Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had maintained he would attend.

"We have not yet received any confirmation of Pakistan's participation in the HoA conference," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

He was asked about reported comments of Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz that he would travel to India to attend the conference on Afghanistan, asserting that the trip could be a "good opportunity" to "defuse" Indo-Pak tension.

Last year in December, the meeting of the HoA process was hosted by Pakistan and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had attended it after which she had bilateral talks with Aziz.

The two sides had also announced resumption of Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue (CBD), which never took-off due to terror strikes, including the Pathankot attack by Pakistan-based elements.

India had recently boycotted the SAARC summit which was scheduled to be held in Islamabad. Citing continuous cross-border terrorism from Pakistan following the Uri attack, India had said, "In the present circumstances" it was unable to take part in the SAARC summit.
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