Sushma Swaraj arrives in Islamabad, says India-Pakistan 'should be good and move forward'

Islamabad: Reflecting the thaw in Indo-Pak ties, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj flew in Islamabad on Tuesday on a two-day visit during which she will discuss with the Pakistani leadership the ways to improve bilateral relations.[caption id="attachment_2538028" align="alignleft" width="380"]

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. AFP[/caption]Essentially in Islamabad for an important multilateral conference on Afghanistan, Swaraj's visit nevertheless provides an opportunity to both the countries to overcome recent bitterness and move towards resumption of bilateral dialogue, the format and mechanism for which are being worked out.Swaraj is slated to call on Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and meet her counterpart Sartaj Aziz on Wednesday after which the two sides may indicate the way forward in the dialogue process."I have come with the message that ties between the two countries should be good and move forward," said Swaraj, who is in Islamabad to lead the Indian delegation at the 'Heart of Asia' 5th Ministerial Meeting on Afghanistan on Wednesday.She refused to share what she would be discussing with Pakistani leaders, but said, "What will happen during the talks will be known after meeting.""Heart of Asia conference is very important for India because it is associated with Afghanistan. That is why I have come here to participate. Since it is happening in Pakistan, it is necessary and appropriate for me to meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and hold talks with my counterpart Sartaj Aziz to talk about improving the bilateral ties and take them forward," Swaraj said.On Monday, Aziz had said the focus of talks would be on the resumption of composite dialogue process.Adopting a cautious approach over the agenda of talks between Swaraj and Aziz, Indian officials said they will see how the meeting goes and if there will be any point of convergence.Swaraj's visit comes after talks between the National Security Advisors of India and Pakistan in Bangkok on Sunday, where they discussed terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir and a range of key bilateral issues apart from agreeing to carry forward the "constructive" engagement.Aziz had said on Monday that the deadlock in Indo-Pak ties had eased to some extent.During his talks with Swaraj, Aziz said he would discuss various matters with focus on resumption of composite dialogue process between the two countries.Swaraj's trip came three years after former external affairs minister SM Krishna's visit to Islamabad in 2012 when the two sides inked a visa liberalisation pact.Swaraj is accompanied by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, who was also present during the four-hour-long meeting between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart Naseer Janjua in the Thai capital.The joint statement after the meeting of NSAs said the talks were held pursuant to a meeting between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Sharif on the sidelines of the climate meet in Paris, rejecting the version given by the Indian side then that it was a mere "exchange of courtesies".Sharif had told Pakistani media that he had a "good meeting" with Modi and "doors of dialogue should open".Before Paris, Modi and Sharif had held bilateral meeting in Russian city of Ufa where they decided that their NSAs would meet to discuss all "terror-related" issues.However, Pakistan had called-off Aziz's visit after New Delhi had made it clear that he would not be allowed to meet Kashmiri separatist leaders in the Indian capital.PTI