NEW DELHI: The public offers of talks by Pakistan seem to be more of rhetoric than real substance, as India on Wednesday categorically denied receiving any official proposal to hold bilateral
talks on the margins of the Heart of Asia conference to be held in Amritsar beginning December 4.
Advisor to Pakistan’s Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has been issuing statements to the media stating that Islamabad was ready to hold talks with New Delhi and that he was going to India
with a message of peace. His visit has been significant as this would be the first visit of a senior Pakistan government functionary after the Pathankot terror attack derailed the talks between the two arch
rivals.
“We have not received any request for a bilateral meeting from Pakistan on the sidelines of Heart of Asia conference,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Gopal Bagalay said in response to a
question if India has received any talks proposals. The chances of any talks seem extremely bleak as the Conference has been preceded by the attack on Nagrota army base that claimed lives of 7 Indian
soldiers.
Aziz will be arriving in India on December 4th. Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj will be unable to attend the conference for the rebuilding Afghanistan owing to health reasons. Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley will be co-chairing the conference in place of Sushma Swaraj.
The bilateral ties between two countries are all time low with daily exchange of fire at the Line of Control between their forces and sporadic terror attacks on armed forces establishment.