NEW DELHI: Highly placed sources confirmed Sunday a secret huddle between Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Lieutenant General (r) Nasir Khan Janjua and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval ‘to douse fires of acrimony’.
Ostensibly leaked by the Indian sources, the news of the meeting comes as a shocking surprise after allegations flew across the border after the December 25 meeting between Kulbhushan Jadhav, the convicted spy, and his family in Islamabad.
Tensions between the two countries surged following the meeting of the Indian spy with his wife and mother after Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s tirade against Pakistan, accusing Islamabad of ‘unbecoming’ behaviour with the spy’s family.
However, officials said the meeting that lasted around 40 minutes- apparently took place in Bangkok – was largely positive with a view to diffuse tensions.
Besides the offices of the NSA, sources indicated that the top hierarchy of the foreign ministries of the two countries was also in the loop about the meeting.
On December 18, addressing a national security seminar in Islamabad, Janjua had said, “The stability of the South Asian region hangs in a delicate balance, and the possibility of nuclear war cannot be ruled out.” He also stated that special efforts were needed to maintain balance in South Asia, which is “a mistake away” from a major catastrophe.
It was not the first meeting between the two NSAs in a third country. In December 2015, the two NSAs, along with the two foreign secretaries, had met, again in Bangkok, which was not revealed till after the meeting. That was followed, within days, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise stop-over in Lahore, to wish then Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif on his birthday on December 25.
Meetings in third countries afford the two officials some space, away from the limelight, which the continual gaze of media on both sides of the border entails.
Published in Daily Times, January 1st 2018.
