New Delhi, Dec 14 : With India and Pakistan agreeing to resume dialogue, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj told Parliament on Monday that “continued estrangement” between the two sides was hampering peace and prosperity in the region. Pakistan has assured India it will expedite the Mumbai terror attacks case, she said.
The case is being heard in anti-terrorism court in Islamabad.
Swaraj’s statement in the Rajya Sabha, on her visit to Islamabad last week, was drowned by protests led by the Congress in the Upper House. In her barely-audible address, Ms Swaraj said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had discussed re-engagement with Pakistan with his counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Paris, leading to her visit. The two leaders had met on November 30 on the sides lines of the Climate change conference.
Swaraj said in her talks with Sharif and Pakistan Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz in Islamabad, the “two sides condemned terrorism and resolved to cooperate to eliminate this menace.” “There we dwelt on the need for Pakistan to expedite the Mumbai terrorist attacks trial. The Indian side was assured of the steps being taken to expedite its early conclusion,” she said.
