ISLAMABAD: The directors general military operation (DGMOs) of Pakistan and India will have a meeting towards the end of this month after Eid as details are being worked out for the purpose.
The rendezvous for the meeting would be determined through diplomatic channels. The interaction could pave the way for a subsequent meeting of the army chiefs of the two countries sometimes later.
The DGMOs would be meeting for the first time in 15 years since the Kargil misadventure in 1999 when former DGMO Major General Tauqir Zia (later Lt General) had a meeting with his Indian counterpart Lt General N C Vij at Attari across the Wagah border for arrangements of withdrawal from Kargil.
The proposed meeting of the DGMOs would ascertain the facts about the killings across the Line of Control (LOC) in Kashmir during August. They will be developing more effective mechanism for their sudden meetings instead of exploiting hotlines for mutual contacts.
The mechanism working at the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan and Ministry for External Affairs of India would remain intact. The military level contact would be made further strengthen. Diplomatic sources told The News here Thursday that Pakistan and India are in constant touch with each other through diplomatic channels with each other for follow up actions of Nawaz Sharif-Manmohan Singh meeting in New York on Sunday last.
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz has confirmed such contacts and said that the major cause of Indian Prime Minister Dr Singh’s anxiety was tension over the LoC. Unfortunately, Indians hurled allegations at Pakistan’s forces for the killing of its soldiers without any proper probe that led to heightening of tension. Now the probe would determine the circumstances in which untoward incidents have been taking place, he reminded.
The adviser parried the question regarding the possibility of Army chiefs of the two countries meeting in the wake of DGMOs interaction but said that the level of contacts would certainly be enhanced. Meanwhile, Pakistan and India have agreed to resume stalled talks on five subjects regarding their technical aspects since the working would become spadework for the composite dialogue whenever they would begin. The agreement for resumption of technical talks was obtained in the New York meeting of the prime ministers of the two countries.
Sartaj Aziz said that the meeting in New York was proved to be fruitful since the two prime ministers agreed for reduction in tension and stop re-occurrence of such gory incidents. “The backchannel diplomacy is catering the thorny issues like Kashmir, Siachen and Sir Creek, but the ultimate talks will be held at the higher level for their final resolution,” the adviser maintained.
The two countries were working on the schedule for talks on the Wullar Barrage and Sir Creek before August 6 incident when Indians had to respond for the scheduling of talks on the two subjects.
The Indian High Commissioner for Pakistan Dr Tirumallai Cunnuvakum Anandanpillai Raghavan had meeting with Adviser Sartaj Aziz and PM’s Special Assistant Syed Tariq Fatemi here at the Foreign Office to discuss the follow ups of New York meeting of the prime ministers. Referring to the two dignitaries, Raghavan said that the meeting was good and had gone well. Talking to this scribe, he sounded optimistic about future course of ties, and he was hopeful of faithful implementation of understanding reached among the two Premiers.
Source: The News
