[image: FO wants New Delhi delegation to finalise draft agreement on March28 .PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE]
ISLAMABAD –
Pakistan again out manoeuvres India on the regional foreign policy front byengaging India in its favourable position against Delhi’s wishes.
India had been trying to escape dialogues with Pakistan on pretext ofterrorism.In a good move, Pakistan government on Thursday decided to send itsdelegation to New Delhi for talks to finalise the agreement on theKartarpur corridor provided India reciprocated the gesture by sending itsteam to Islamabad also.
“In a spirit of constructive engagement Pakistan has proposed to India thatthe Pakistan delegation may visit India on March 13 followed by the returnvisit of the Indian delegation to Pakistan on March 28 to finalise thedraft agreement for the Kartarpur corridor,” Foreign Office spokesperson DrMuhammad Faisal said in a statement.
“We look forward to positive reciprocity from India,” he added.
Last month, Pakistan not only shared a draft agreement with India but alsoproposed New Delhi to urgently send its delegation to Islamabad to finalisethe accord.
The Modi administration, however, made a counter proposal asking thegovernment in Islamabad to send its team to New Delhi. It proposed twodates — February 26 and March 7 — for the negotiations.
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Pakistan had termed the India’s response to its proposal for talks onKartarpur Corridor as ‘childish’ but at the same time made clear that itsresponse would be “mature and well considered”.
The proposal to open Kartarpur Corridor had been on the table for manyyears but it began to take shape after Prime Minister Imran Khan tookcharge in August last year.
Former Indian cricketer Navjaot Singh Sidhu, who attended the oath takingof PM Imran, was told by Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa that Pakistanwas planning to open the Kartarpur Corridor on the 550th Birth Anniversaryof Baba Guru Nanak.
The premier inaugurated the groundbreaking ceremony of the KartarpurCorridor on November 28.
Pakistan took this step to accommodate the longstanding request of the Sikhcommunity, especially from India particularly in view of 550th BirthAnniversary of Baba Guru Nanak.
