Back-door diplomacy efforts between India, Pakistan are on: Pakistani Senator Sherry Rehman

Pakistani Senator Sherry Rehman on Wednesday said there were reports that back-door diplomacy efforts have started between Pakistan and India to normalise relations between the two neighbouring countries. The Pakistan Peoples Party leader was speaking to Geo News and said that Pakistan-India tensions could lead to instability in the world. [caption id=“attachment_780519” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Sherry Rehman. Reuters[/caption] She said that both Pakistan and India are atomic powers and the region cannot afford a war. She added that Track-II diplomacy consists of mutual steps taken for the sake of peace by mutual friends and it does not take place at governmental level. Rehman said that India should make the first move to ease the persisting tension. “India following the Uri attack started taking aggressive measures,” Geo News quoted Rehman as saying. She said that India should have investigation of the Uri attack on an international level. Rehman said that India and Pakistan should solve their mutual disputes through political measures. She said that world powers are also trying to normalise India-Pak relations. Following the attack on an army base in Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir that killed 18 Indian soldiers, Indian government stepped up its efforts to isolate Pakistan on the issue of exporting terror. The two countries also criticised each other at the United Nations General Assembly session recently held in New York. The Saarc Summit has also been postponed following India’s decision not to attend the conference which was earlier scheduled to take place on 9 and 10 November in Islamabad.