The meeting between the prime ministers of Pakistan and India on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Ufa on July 10 was successful. It reached its main goal of reducing tensions in relations between the two countries, Sartaj Aziz, the Pakistani government’s national security and foreign policy adviser, said on Monday.
“The Ufa meeting between Nawaz Sharif and Narendra Modi became a key event in the history of Pakistani diplomacy,” Aziz told a news conference in Islamabad. “The main result of the Pakistani-Indian negotiations in the Bashkir capital was that they had reduced tensions in relations between the two countries and revealed the need to continue effective talks between Islamabad and New Delhi on all vital issues,” Aziz said.
In Ufa, the Pakistani and Indian prime ministers confirmed their determination to fight against terrorism in South Asia. They also agreed to speed up the investigation into the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. It was decided to continue developing bilateral contacts, including the organization of a meeting between the commanders of military operations and the holding of talks in New Delhi between national security advisers of India and Pakistan. The two prime ministers agreed to release Indian fishermen who are in custody in Pakistan and develop mechanisms of facilitation of religious tourism. In addition to that, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi accepted the invitation to visit Pakistan in 2016 to participate in a regular summit of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC).