LAHORE, Pakistan: Pakistan and India on Thursday resumed their bilateral diplomatic talks, following a heightened tension at the border.
Foreign Office Spokesperson of Pakistan Dr Faisal said that talks were held in a positive and cordial manner, the Dispatch News Desk (DND) news agency reported.
The talks were held at Attari Complex in India, in which an 18-member Pakistani delegation led by the Foreign Office Spokesperson and the Director General for South Asia and SAARC Dr Mohammad Faisal participated.
The Joint Secretary Interior S.C.L. Das led the Indian delegation in the talks.
The high-level Pak-India talks were in particular aimed at to negotiate the agreement on Kartarpur Corridor.
It was the first time in last three years that the two Countries issued a joint statement following their bilateral meeting.
Meanwhile talking to media in Lahore, the Foreign Office Spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal said that the two sides held positive talks, and termed the release of a joint statement ‘a great success’.
Dr Faisal read the joint statement which states that both sides held detailed and constructive discussions on various aspects and provisions of the proposed agreement and agreed to work towards expeditiously operationalizing the Kartarpur Corridor.
It was agreed to hold the next meeting at Wagah on April 2, 2019.
The Spokesperson told that both sides also held expert level discussions between the technical experts on the alignment and other details of the proposed corridor.
Dr Mohammad Faisal said that it was also agreed that technical experts of Pakistan and India would meet again on March 19, 2019 to discuss the issues relating to Kartarpur Corridor, its construction, road, and other technicalities.
Joint Press Statement after Pak-India Kartarpur Corridor Talks
“The first meeting to discuss the modalities and the draft agreement for facilitation of pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib using the Kartarpur Corridor was held today at Attari, India in a cordial environment.
The Indian delegation was led by Mr. S.C.L. Das, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Pakistan delegation was led by Dr. Mohammad Faisal, DG (SA & SAARC) of Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Both sides held detailed and constructive discussion on various aspects and provisions of the proposed agreement and agreed to work towards expeditiously operationalizing the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor.
Both sides also held expert level discussions between the technical experts on the alignment and other details of the proposed corridor.
It was agreed to hold the next meeting at Wagah on 2 April, 2019. This will be preceded by a meeting of the technical experts on 19 March 2019 at the proposed zero points to finalize the alignment.”
