New Delhi:
Foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan will meet in Islamabad on August 25, in what will be the first official dialogue between the two countries after a year and a half.
Talks between the two sides were suspended in January last year after the killing of two Indian jawans by Pakistani forces at the Line of Control (LoC). One of the jawans was beheaded by the Pakistani soldiers. India described the attack as "an act of provocation," and, following nationwide outrage, called off the peace talks between the two countries.
The date of foreign secretary-level talks was decided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in consultation with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif when they met in the Indian capital on May 27. The Pakistani Prime Minister had flown into India a day earlier to attend the swearing in ceremony of the new government headed by Mr Modi.
The timing of the talks between the foreign secretaries of the two countries is expected to ignite a fresh bout on controversy as it was only yesterday that an Indian jawan had been killed in an unprovoked firing by the Pakistani troops on the LoC.
Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, in response to questions, had informed the Rajya Sabha yesterday that Pakistan had violated ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir 19 times since the NDA government came to power in May.
"Our head has not bowed. This government will not let our heads bow," Mr Jaitley said.