The Canadian Parvasi- Issue 62

The International News Weekly india
September 21, 2018 | Toronto 08
India, Pakistan foreign ministers to meet in New York
Continued from page 01
This follows a letter written by Pakistani
Prime Minister Imran Khan to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi seeking resumption of dialogue
and suggesting a meeting between the
two foreign ministers on the sidelines of the
UNGA, and a letter written by Qureshi to Sushma
Swaraj.
When pressed further, Kumar said this is
just a meeting and there is nothing much to be
read into this at this stage.
Kumar also revealed that India has confirmed
that it would attend a meeting of the
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
(Saarc) foreign ministers.
"The existing policy on the Saarc process
will continue. I don't think there is any change
in it," said the MEA spokesperson.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj
had met the then Pakistan's Advisor on Foreign
Affairs Sartaj Aziz in Islamabad in 2015
and two decided to resume the comprehensive
dialogue process.
This was followed by an unscheduled visit
of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Lahore
on the Christmas Day. But the bilateral ties
took a severe beating after the terror attack on
the Pathankot airbase on January 2, 2016.
Asked whether the foreign ministers meeting
in New York is the beginning of a dialogue
process, he merely repeated that they requested
for a meeting and we have not discussed
details. On reports of brutality on a Border
Security Force (BSF) jawan who was killed in
firing from the Pakistani side, he said it was
a barbaric incident and the BSF has written a
strong communication to its counterparts in
Pakistan. "It is a serious issue and we will take
it up Pakistan."
Imran writes to Modi, calls for resumption of peace dialogue
Continued from page 01
Khan’s letter is also the first formal
proposal to restart a substantive engagement
between India and Pakistan.
In his letter, diplomatic sources said,
Khan has called for resumption of the
comprehensive bilateral dialogue process
which had been launched in December
2015 but which couldn’t take off
because of the Pathankot airbase terror
attack.
Imran responded to Modi’s letter seeking
‘constructive engagement’
Last full talks between foreign ministers
was in Dec 2015
In that context, Khan said India and
Continued from page 01
As Pakistani troops fired at the patrol party, Kumar was
hit by a sniper on the right side of his chest and leg. No other
casualties were reported and Kumar’s body was recovered,
apparently with his throat slit, after about 10 hours of search.
An official statement from BSF, however, did not confirm
mutilation of the body, only maintaining that the soldier’s
body was found with “multiple bullet injuries on his torso
including neck”.When specifically asked about the cause of
wounds on the neck, a BSF spokesperson said “he had nothing
to add to what had been said in the official release.”
After not disclosing Kumar’s identity on Tuesday, BSF
condoled his death with a tweet from its official Twitter
handle on Wednesday.DG #BSF and all ranks salute the supreme
sacrifice of Head Constable Narender Kumar & offer
Pakistan should look at resolving all
major outstanding issues, including
terrorism and Kashmir, through dialogue.
It was in December 2015 when
Swaraj travelled to Islamabad for a
Heart of Asia conference, when the last
substantive interaction with Pakistan
happened though a discrete discussion
has been maintained at the level of national
security advisers.
The joint statement issued then said
foreign secretaries should work out
modalities and schedule of meetings
under the comprehensive dialogue on
issues including “Peace and Security,
CBMs, Jammu & Kashmir, Siachen, Sir
Creek, Wullar Barrage/Tulbul Navigation
Project, Economic and Commercial
Cooperation, Counter-Terrorism,
Narcotics Control, Humanitarian Issues,
People to People exchanges and
religious tourism”.
The Modi government though wants
Islamabad to make the atmosphere conducive
for any meaningful engagement
by acting against terror groups targeting
India from Pakistani soil. In his
letter to Khan, Modi recalled his earlier
phone conversation in which they
spoke of “their shared vision to bring
peace, security and prosperity in the Indian
subcontinent, in order to make it
free of terror and violence, and to focus
on development”.
Body of BSF jawan killed in Pak firing ‘mutilated’
condolence to the family of the braveheart. HC Narender attained
martyrdom on 18 Sep, 2018 in an unprovoked Pak firing
across #Jammu #IB (sic),” the BSF tweet said. A BSF release
on Wednesday said the unprovoked firing was started
by Pakistan at around 10:40 am on Tuesday in Ramgarh sector,
Jammu, when the party was out on patrol as is routinely
done to clear wild vegetation for a better view along the IB.
The BSF said the patrol returned fire and tactically extricated
itself. However, one member of the patrol was found
missing. Reinforcement was sent in and the area sanitised.
A search was mounted for the missing jawan and with much
effort, his body with multiple bullet injuries to his torso
and neck was recovered. BSF said a strong protest has been
lodged with Pakistani Rangers. A protest will also be lodged
through diplomatic channels.
Re-polling on 53 booths in 8 distts in Punjab
zila parishad, panchayat samiti elections
Continued from page 01
"Sukhbir's double face
has been exposed. In a video,
Sukhbir could be seen
leading a group of party
workers who are thrashing
Congress worker. It
shows they are indulging
in such activities out of
sheer frustration," claimed
Jakhar accusing Sukhbir
Badal of misusing his 'Z
plus' security cover.
Jakhar asked how
Sukhbir Badal could be in
Lambi when he was a voter
of Jalalabad.
"What Sukhbir had
done was unconstitutional,"
Jakhar alleged. The
Gurdaspur MP said maximum
repolling is going
to take place at Muktsar
where, he alleged, Akali
Dal leaders indulged in
"hooliganism".