India keeping a backchannel open with Pakistan, officials say

Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers will meet on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the first high-level interaction between the two countries in three years.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan may not have appointed a National Security Advisor (NSA) after resignation of former NSA Nasser Janjua of the previous regime who also served as a backchannel of sorts for India to communicate with its neighbour, but New Delhi does have a back-channel open to Islamabad, senior Modi government officials said on condition of anonymity.

Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan wrote a letter to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi seeking resumption of comprehensive dialogue between the two countries.(AP Photo)

Their admission comes even as Khan has reached out to Modi through a letter with the offer of talks on all issues, including terror, but also Pakistan. The letter, written last week, was delivered to India through the Pakistan High Commission this week.

While the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is not aware of this communication channel, the backchannel becomes important in the context of possible talks, perhaps as soon as next week during the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York next week, and between India’s external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart.

Nasser Janjua was designated backchannel with India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval from October 2015 to June 2018. The government officials cited in the first instance said the new backchannel has been helpful in lowering the volume of cross border firing from the Pakistan side as well as conveying Islamabad’s readiness for a dialogue.