Sushma Swaraj off to Pakistan, will talk to Nawaz Sharif, Sartaj Aziz

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will travel to Islamabad on Tuesday for a multilateral conference on Afghanistan, where she will also hold talks with her Pakistani counterpart, Sartaj Aziz, who said the focus will be on the resumption of the composite dialogue process.

NDA ally Shiv Sena and the Opposition parties sought to corner the Narendra Modi government inside and outside Parliament on Monday over the secret NSA-level India-Pakistan talks in Bangkok on Sunday, with the Congress accusing it of making a “fundamental departure” from its position on Indo-Pakistan ties.

Ms Swaraj’s visit comes two days after the talks between the two national security advisers in Bangkok, where they discussed terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir and a range of key bilateral issues, besides agreeing to carry forward the “constructive” engagement. “External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to lead Indian delegation for ‘Heart of Asia’ 5th Ministerial Meeting on Afghanistan on December 9 in Islamabad,” MEA spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted.

She will call on Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif and meet his foreign affairs adviser Sartaj Aziz on the sidelines of the Afghan conference on Wednesday.

In Islamabad, Mr Aziz told reporters that Ms Swaraj was arriving Tuesday to attend the “Heart of Asia” conference and during her visit would call on Mr Sharif. Mr Aziz said the deadlock in India-Pakistan ties had “eased” to some extent. In his talks with Ms Swaraj, Mr Aziz said various matters with focus on resumption of the composite dialogue process will be discussed.

Ms Swaraj’s visit comes three years after former external affairs minister S.M. Krishna travelled to Islamabad in 2012, when the two countries also signed an agreement on visa liberalisation.

Ms Swaraj will be accompanied by foreign secretary S. Jaishankar, who was also present at the four-hour-long meeting between national security adviser Ajit Doval and Pakistan NSA Naseer Janjua in the Thai capital.

The joint statement after Sunday’s NSAs’ meeting said the talks were held pursuant to a meeting between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the global climate conference in Paris, rejecting the version given by the Indian side then that it was a mere “exchange of courtesies”, although Mr Sharif had told the Pakistani media that he had a “good meeting” and that the “doors of dialogue should open”.

Before Paris, Mr Modi and Mr Sharif had held a bilateral meeting in the Russian city of Ufa, where they decided the NSAs would meet to discuss all “terror-related” issues.

The government on Monday also faced flak from senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, a former external affairs minister, who questioned its strategy, saying it should explain to the country why it was resuming the dialogue after the ruling party had insisted that talks and terror cannot go on together.

Raising the issue at the start of Rajya Sabha proceedings, Congress leader Anand Sharma demanded the PM clarify India’s engagement with Pakistan and take Parliament and the Opposition into confidence on the direction and roadmap the government had in mind. “I have given a notice under Rule 267 so that the Prime Minister and his government inform the House about the developments and the reasons which have made the government make a fundamental departure from the position as was conveyed to this august House in the last session with regard to India’s engagement with Pakistan,” he said.

Mr Sharma also said the government was “disrespecting” Parliament. The government on its part assured the Opposition that Ms Susma Swaraj will make a statement on the issue later this week.

“The fact that the foreign secretaries have accompanied the national security advisers means that the scope and the agenda has been expanded. Therefore, we would demand the government takes Parliament into confidence and the Prime Minister shares what has been the understanding reached between him and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for the government now to move forward,” he said.

Responding to him, MoS parliamentary affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi reaffirmed the government’s strong commitment to the national interest, and said: “On the issue raised by you, I assure you that on December 10 the external affairs minister will come to the House and provide all information on the issues that you have raised.”

K.C. Tyagi (JD-U) raised the issue of the Pakistani NSA’s purported statement that the issue of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir will also be discussed at the talks. “What do you mean by that Is this a departure from the past We want the minister to declare the government’s position on Kashmir,” he said.

The government also faced heat outside Parliament on the NSA-level talks held in Bangkok Sunday. “BJP all along has been saying that terror and talks can’t go together. Terrorist attacks are going on throughout, and India itself says Pakistan is behind them. So what is the point then (in holding talks) The government owes it to the people of this country to (explain) why they are resuming dialogue,” Mr Sinha said.

Criticising the Bangkok talks, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said having a dialogue with Pakistan was pointless as its main goal was to destroy India by sponsoring terrorism here, and added no amount of talks would solve the strained ties between the two nations. He demanded to know why the talks were taking place, saying the nation was waiting for an answer as well.