Foreign secretary S Jaishankar to visit Pakistan

NEW DELHI:Feb 13, 2015 (Agency) Foreign secretary S Jaishankar will soon visit Pakistan in what will mark the first official high-level contact between the two countries since Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif visited India last year for his counterpart Narendra Modi's oath-taking.The decision to send Jaishankar to Pakistan though is a part another South Asia outreach by PM Narendra Modi which will see India's top diplomat visiting all Saarc countries.Sources said they didn't want to speculate about dates for Jaishankar's visit to Pakistan.Modi himself informed his counterpart Nawaz Sharif about the decision to resume foreign secretary-level dialogue with Pakistan. India had last year scheduled the same dialogue with Pakistan in August last year



but cancelled it at the last moment after Pakistan high commissioner chose to meet Hurriyat leaders.Islamabad has maintained all along since then that India would have to take the initiative for any resumption of dialogue between the two countries.Basit had called on Jaishankar on Thursday to review ties between the two countries. During the meeting they also discussed the possibility of resuming dialogue.Modi had called Sharif to wish good luck to Pakistan for the ongoing cricket World Cup. He also called up his counterparts in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka for the same.Sources said Modi and Sharif discussed cricket at length during their conversation and how it had always played a binding role in relations between the two countries.