Indo-Pak NSA talks: Meeting does not inspire great enthusiasm, says Congress

Bangkok: In a sudden breakthrough, National Security Advisors of India and Pakistan held talks in Bangkok on Sunday on a wide gamut of bilateral ties including terrorism and Jammu and Kashmir, and agreed to take forward the "constructive" engagement. The meeting lasted for about four hours between the two NSAs.

Both the NSAs agreed to carry forward the constructive engagement. Spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs Vikas Swarup tweeted the official press release issued by the two NSAs.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart Nasir Janjua also discussed peace and security and other issues including tranquility along the LoC.

The meeting is a major breakthrough given that the two sides had engaged in mutual blame game earlier in September this year resulting in cancellation of the NSA-level talks and stalling the interaction process as was agreed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in July in Russian city of Ufa.

However, Congress on Sunday said the NSA talks between India and Pakistan in Bangkok does not inspire "great enthusiasm" against the backdrop of a series of flip-flops since the Modi government came to power in May in 2014. "Moreover, it raises valid concerns whether this is not an attempt by Modi government to divert the country's attention away from the political and economic challenges as also widespread agrarian crisis across India," Randeep Surjewala Congress Chief Spokesman said.

"It's been a constant series of flip-flops since May 2014 which doesn't inspire great enthusiasm about the NSA meeting at Bangkok," he said. At the same time, he said, "Congress party has always supported peaceful resolution of all disputes with neighbours through dialogue as also in a spirit of mutual cooperation and co-existence." Modi government has, however, neither spelt out the specifics nor the framework for engagement with Pakistan or taken Parliament or political parties into confidence, Surjewala added.

With PTI Inputs.