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Pakistan to raise India's 'sponsorship' of terror in Baluchistan, FATA Sachin Parashar, TNN | Mar 2, 2015, 11.21PM IST

NEW DELHI: After the false start last year when India cancelled the foreign secretary-level dialogue with Pakistan, the 2 countries will seek to make a new beginning in bilateral ties with a meeting between the top diplomats on Tuesday. 

Ostensibly under the Saarc umbrella, the meeting between Indian foreign secretary S Jaishankar and his Pakistan counterpart Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry will see the 2 sides addressing a host of outstanding bilateral issues including J&K. 

While India will back any initiative to end hostilities across LoC and International Border, it will have to contend with an aggressive Pakistan establishment which is looking to raise the Kashmir issue, and also alleged Indian involvement in terror activities on its western border, with the visiting Indian foreign secretary. 

India has already said that not much should be expected from the meeting and that the talks are going to be only exploratory in nature. Jaishankar is expected to forcefully reiterate India's concerns over terrorism and make the point that an expeditious trial of Mumbai attacks accused can lead to a more meaningful engagement between the 2 nations.

Pakistan sources said Islamabad was looking at substantive bilateral talks with focus on what they described as 3 main priorities for Islamabad in the engagement with India - the LoC and working boundary ceasefire violations, Kashmir and ``evidence'' of involvement of Indian agencies in fomenting terrorism in Baluchistan and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Pakistan authorities led by the army have in the past few weeks have repeatedly raised the issue of India's 'sponsorship' of terror activities on the western border accusing New Delhi of funding TTP. Pakistan defence minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif was quoted as saying Sunday that India was responsible for creating unrest in the region and that separatist leaders from Baluchistan were travelling to India on Indian passports to get directions from the Indian government.

Indian government sources said they were not aware of these allegations. The reference to Baluchistan in an Indo-Pak joint statement in 2009 in Sharm el Sheikh is still remembered as one of the low points of foreign policy under former PM Manmohan Singh.

Pakistan media Monday reported that Islamabad will look to restore the relevance of 2003 ceasefire agreement with India. According to Pakistan officials, this was important to prevent ``unprovoked'' firing by Indian troops. The ceasefire violations in the past 2-3 years have become the single most significant factor in preventing India from engaging with Pakistan. India called off the dialogue process with Islamabad in January 2003 after the beheading of an Indian soldier at LoC allegedly by Pakistani troops. The same year in August, just as the 2 sides were finalizing dates to restart dialogue, 5 Indian soldiers were killed again in an ambush in Poonch.
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    http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Pakistan-to-raise-Indias-sponsorship-of-terror-in-Baluchistan-FATA/articleshow/46435592.cms

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