ISLAMABAD – A group of Indian experts has visited Pakistan to discuss allaspects of bilateral ties and revive the Track II diplomacy process withIslamabad amidst the chill in the relationship after a number of terrorattacks in India by Pakistan-based outfits.The original Track II initiative, Neemrana Dialogue, received a fresh startwith the visit, diplomatic sources here said. The Indian side was led byformer foreign ministry secretary Vivek Katju and included well- knowneducationist J S Rajput and other experts, while Pakistan side was led byformer foreign secretary Inamul Haque. The interactions between the twosides took place between April 28 to 30 in Islamabad, sources said.

“The two sides discussed all aspects of bilateral relations and agreed thatall issues between the two countries should be resolved through talks,”according to a source.

The Pakistani side also included former governor State Bank of PakistanIshart Hussian, whose name has been circulating in the media as one ofcandidates to become Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister during generalelection expected to be held in July. The Track II interaction was keptunder tight wraps and nothing had been shared officially about it by theorganisers.

Neemrana Dialogue was launched in early 1990s and included influentialformer diplomats, military veterans and academics, who were havingunofficial backing from the foreign ministries of the two countries. TheIndia-Pakistan ties nose-dived in recent years with no bilateral talkstaking place.

The ties between the two countries had strained after the terror attacks byPakistan-based groups in 2016 and India’s surgical strikes insidePakistan-occupied Kashmir. The sentencing of alleged Indian spy KulbhushanJadhav to death by a military court in April last year further deterioratedbilateral ties.

The two sides often accuse each other of ceasefire violations along theLine of Control, resulting in civilian casualties. Recently, India saidthat it would participate along with Pakistan in a multi-nationcounter-terror exercise in Russia under the framework of ShanghaiCooperation Organisation. The Nation newspaper in an editorial hailed theexercise.

“The new-fangled initiative is far from an independent cognisantinitiative on the part of both the countries at mitigating grievances, andis in fact an enterprise broached under the aegis of the SCO,” the dailysaid. Where the exercises aim to build trust and mutual understanding, witheye towards coming up with a formula to manage border affairs, anyendeavour in this area between the two acrimonious neighbours can go a longway in side stepping their tenuous relationship,” it said.