New Delhi: Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria on Friday called on Prime Minister-designate and PTI chief Imran Khan in Islamabad.
The two met at Khan’s residence in Banigala where Bisaria presented him with a cricket bat signed by the Indian team. Senior PTI leaders, including Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Fawad Choudhary, Dr Shireen Mazari, Dr Shehzad Waseem and Naeem ul Haq, were also present in the meeting.
According to PTI, Khan and Bisaria discussed the need to restart dialogue between the countries. Khan expressed concern over human rights violation in Kashmir and said he was hopeful that the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit would be held in Islamabad soon.
Earlier this year in April, India had snubbed Pakistan and said it was difficult to proceed with the SAARC initiative, citing continuous support to cross-border terrorism by the neighbour.
SAARC summits are usually held biennially and hosted by a member state in alphabetical order. The member state hosting the summit assumes the Chair of the Association. The last SAARC Summit in 2014 was held in Kathmandu, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The 2016 SAARC summit was to be held in Islamabad but after the terrorist attack on an Indian Army camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri on September 18 that year, India expressed its inability to participate in the summit due to “prevailing circumstances”.
Bisaria’s visit came just days after Khan swept the general elections in Pakistan. The PTI chief is all set to take oath on August 18. Modi had also congratulated Khan after his win. The Indian High Commissioner is said to have told the PM-designate that “there was new optimism in India that relations would move forward positively”.
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