New Delhi, Feb 13 (IANS) Pakistan would be among the countries which Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar would visit as part of his tour of SAARC nations during which he would utilize the opportunity to discuss "bilateral issues", India's external affairs ministry said Friday.
"Cricket is a metaphor for connectivity in the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries and Prime Minister Narendra Modi practices multi-layered diplomacy," ministry of external affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told the media here.
"When Indian and Pakistan leaders talk, they will utilize the opportunity to talk about other issues as well. A lot of issues come up but cricket is the main dish," he said.
India had called off foreign secretary-level talks last year in August after Pakistani High Commissioner Abdul Basit decided to meet leaders of the separatist Hurriyat days ahead of the talks.
Modi Friday spoke to his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, along with leaders of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, to convey his best wishes for their teams who are participating in the ICC cricket World Cup 2015.
The prime minister informed Sharif about India's initiative to send the foreign secretary on a "SAARC yatra" or tour of South Asian countries, including Pakistan.
Akbaruddin said Jaishankar would also utilize the opportunity to talk about bilateral issues.
"We will try and have bilateral agenda with all SAARC countries within the short timea," he said even as he refused to give a time-frame for the visit.
The MEA spokesperson said the visit to Pakistan was not likely to be in the next two weeks.
Modi tweeted Friday that he had spoken to Sharif and the heads of other SAARC countries whose teams are playing in the World Cup to wish them luck.
"Spoke to President @ashrafghani, PM Sheikh Hasina, PM Nawaz Sharif and President Sirisena. Conveyed my best wishes for the Cricket World Cup," he tweeted.
India take on Pakistan in their first World Cup 2015 match in Adelaide Sunday.
Australian opener Usman Khawaja's condition is similar to that of Indian captain Rohit Sharma at
A cargo plane used by military thugs to ferry leftists across the ocean and starve them to death
Mobiles of 20 leaders stolen at Kejriwal's rally: CM was doing road show regarding MCD elections
AAP leaders are continuously campaigning for the MCD elections in Delhi. On Wednesday, CM Arvind
Russian President Vladimir Putin will formally take control of four regions of Ukraine on 30 Sept
Rajnath happy over Vajpayee getting Bharat Ratna
New Delhi, March 27 (IANS) Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday expressed happiness at former
The day at Mumbai's historic Wankhede Stadium was not just an event, but a confluence of emotions
Markets can be opened in Delhi with Odd-Even rule, know what concessions can be found?
New Delhi: The fourth phase of lockdown has started from Monday. After 54 days of lockdown, in th
Tesla and SpaceX owner and world's top industrialist Elon Musk is scheduled to hold a meeting wit
Jammu: Devotees from all over the country are reaching Katra to visit Mata Vaishno Devi during th
Pakistan Economic Crisis: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan said that Pakistanis are paying a heav
