Sartaj Aziz to visit India, says good opportunity to defuse Indo-Pak tension

Pakistan Prime Minister’s Advisor on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz has said that he would travel to India to attend the Heart of Asia Conference on Afghanistan in December, asserting that the trip could be a “good opportunity” to “defuse” Indo-Pak tension.

The conference is scheduled to be held in India on December 3 in Amritsar. Aziz would be the first senior Pakistani official to visit India since the September 10 Uri attack, blamed on Pakistan-based militants, that led India to pull out of the SAARC Summit in Pakistan in November.

“Unlike India, that had sabotaged SAARC summit in Pakistan by pulling out, Pakistan will respond by participating in the Heart of Asia being held in India,” Aziz told the media.

“It’s a good opportunity to defuse the tension,” PTV quoted Aziz as saying.

Aziz also said he himself will participate in the conference and will not repeat India’s “blunder” where it boycotted South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit, the report said.

Aziz, however, said it has not been confirmed yet whether he will meet his Indian counterpart on the sidelines of the conference or not.

The Adviser also said that the US president-elect Donald Trump would deserve Nobel prize if he intervenes and succeeds in resolving the Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan.

“Trump would deserve Nobel prize if he helps resolve Kashmir dispute,” he said on a lighter note while responding to a question.