Sixteen-member Pakistani delegation arrives in India for DG-level talks

Amritsar: A 16-member Pakistani delegation on Wednesday arrived in Amritsar for DG-level talks between border forces of the two countries to be held from Thursday after a gap of over one-and-a-half years on key issues including ceasefire violations and cross-border infiltration. The Pakistani side led by Rangers Director General (Punjab) Maj Gen Umar Farooq Burki was received at the Attari-Wagah land border by senior Border Security Force (BSF) commanders of the Punjab frontier. [caption id=“attachment_2427224” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] “The delegation crossed over to the Indian side at 12.35 pm,” senior officials said. Burki was accorded a ceremonial salute and guard of honour by the Indian border guards and they will be flown in a special BSF plane to Delhi. The talks were last held in December 2013 in Lahore. Islamabad had agreed to New Delhi’s proposal on a meeting between the two border guarding forces despite cancelling the NSA-level talks after India which made it clear that there should not be any meeting between Kashmiri separatists and Pakistani NSA Sartaj Aziz during his visit here. The 23-member Indian side would be headed by BSF DG DK Pathak during the talks and is expected to raise issues like ceasefire violations in Jammu and Kashmir, including sniper attacks on BSF personnel, and infiltration. “The talks will also endeavour to focus on positive issues like different levels of communication, more simultaneous coordinated patrolling and other confidence building measures,” a BSF statement had said. According to sources, extra stress would be on the “most important” issue of breach of ceasefire in J&K which has led to loss of lives of civilians and troops and “unprovoked” firing by the Rangers along the IB. The issue of “no response” by the other side when BSF waves the ‘white flag’ which is used to indicate stopping of fire and meeting of on-ground commanders of the two sides will also be taken up. The talks will end on 12 September. PTI