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Pakistan has denied holding any “backchannel” talks with India, but has reiterated its desire for a peaceful neighborhood.
“At this point, there are no backchannel (talks) between Pakistan and India,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told a press conference, according to the Express Tribune.
For many years, relations between the two neighboring countries have been at a standstill.
Pakistan has not only reduced diplomatic ties with India, but also suspended bilateral trade.
However, there was a possibility of a thaw in relations when the two countries engaged in backchannel talks in 2021.
According to The Express Tribune, secret meetings between senior security officials from Pakistan and India in the UAE resulted in the renewal of a ceasefire agreement along the Line of Control (LoC) in February 2021.
The next step was to re-establish bilateral trade, but the process was halted when the government of then-Prime Minister Imran Khan rejected the decision to import sugar and cotton from India.
According to some later reports, backchannel talks even discussed the possibility of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting Pakistan.
However, neither side officially confirmed nor denied the reports.
According to The Express Tribune, there were hopes for some positive movement in Pakistan following the change of government in April of last year.
However, nothing happened because of political and economic uncertainty in Pakistan.
According to sources, even backchannel talks between the arch rivals are no longer active.
In January of this year, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar stated that there had been no backchannel talks between Pakistan and India since the current government took office.
Because elections are scheduled in Pakistan later this year and in India early next year, no major developments in the bilateral relationship are expected in the near future, according to The Express Tribune.
In light of this, it will be interesting to see if Pakistan attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) foreign ministers conference in India in May and the June summit meeting.
Source:OCN
