Islamabad (TDI): Talks that were initially scheduled for noon have now been delayed until evening, between the Director General Military Operations of India and Pakistan. These military-to-military talks are extremely important as they will further consolidate the fragile truce agreed upon between the two countries on Saturday evening.
The truce, brokered by the Unites States, followed a dangerously high level of escalation between the nuclear-armed neighbors. As yet, no reason has been provided by either side on why the talks have been delayed.
Indian military said that last night was a peaceful night in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, as it announced the delay.
The talks between the two DGMOs will decide the terms of the permanent ceasefire as issues, that erupted in the after of the Pahalgam incident, are still pending.
In addition to these military-to-military level talks, that will most likely focus on operational and technical aspects of the ceasefire, the US President Donald Trump hinted that India and Pakistan will engage in a broad spectrum of talks, aimed at the resolution of Kashmir dispute.
Speaking to a local news channel, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said the dialogue with India would focus on Kashmir, terrorism and water-related issues, if talks progress as indicated by Trump.
He said that these are longstanding problems over the past 76 years and must be solved, adding that Pakistan is the biggest victim of terrorism.
The Minister also said that this is a golden opportunity for both Pakistan and India to resolve the Kashmir issue.
“The reason of the conflict of two days ago was also the Kashmir. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to push South Asia into a living hell, but by the grace of Allah Almighty we were saved. Our armed forces stood like an iron wall. These problems must now be settled,” he said.
Nuzhat Rana is the Managing Editor (website) at The Diplomatic Insight.
