NSA Ajit Doval, Pakistani counterpart met in Thailand on 27 December, issues across LoC discussed

Islamabad: A meeting between Pakistan’s National Security Advisor lieutenant general Nasser Khan Janjua (retired) and India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval took place on 27 December in Thailand, a media report said. [caption id=“attachment_4070307” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. Reuters[/caption] According to Dawn online, this was confirmed to the daily by a senior National Security Division official. During the meeting, Janjua raised the issue of targeting of civilians along the Line of Control while Doval spoke of infiltration. “The meeting was good. Mr Doval’s tone and tenor was friendly and positive,” the source who had been briefed about the meeting told Dawn. According to the Pakistani official, the context of the meeting was important as it came after Islamabad allowed death row convict and suspected Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav to meet his family members. However, India and Pakistan later got into a diplomatic spat over the treatment of the wife and mother of Jadhav and the way the meeting was conducted by the Pakistani side. “But when seen together, it becomes clear that both sides are secretly working to mend fences,” the daily said. Both sides had also agreed to keep the meeting secret, but once reports about it began appearing in Indian media, Pakistani officials started sharing details about the interaction. Pakistani officials are of the view that the meeting was useful and it might help in restarting some sort of engagement at the diplomatic level. General Janjua had on Thursday met with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif at his Jati Umra residence in Raiwind, which lasted five hours, and included discussions on matters of national security, relations with Pakistan’s neighbouring countries and terrorism. Dawn had cited a PML-N leader quoting Sharif as saying at the meeting: “There is a dire need to improve ties with the neighbouring countries.”