PM Imran Khan chairs meeting today to review Pakistan's ties with India

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Prime Minister Imran Khan. File photo.
  • PM Imran Khan will chair a meeting today to review Pak-India ties.
  • Geo News report says a decision will be taken regarding the scope of ties with India after the briefing.
  • The Federal Cabinet on Thursday deferred a decision to import sugar and cotton from India.


ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has convened a high-level meeting with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and senior officials of the Foreign Office to review Pakistan's ties with India, Geo News reported Friday, citing unnamed sources.

The prime minister will take a holistic review of the current status of the relationship between the two countries after recent developments.

Earlier this month, the military leaders of Pakistan and India had agreed to maintain a ceasefire on the Line of Control and other sectors and then Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote a letter to PM Khan, wishing him on Pakistan Day.

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The Pakistani premier also responded to Modi’s letter expressing a desire for peace in the region.

Today’s meeting is being held in the backdrop of the Federal Cabinet decision deferring resumption of trade ties after the Economic Coordination Committee's proposal to import sugar and cotton via the Wagah Border.

The TV report said that a decision will be taken regarding the scope of ties with India after the briefing.

"Decision has also been taken to constitute a cabinet committee for issues relating to trade with India which would give its recommendations on the matter," the said.

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The members of the body would be announced later, it said.

‘Normalisation with India not possible until the revocation of August 5 move’

In a video statement on Thursday after the cabinet meeting, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the decision to import cotton and yarn from Indian came under discussion in the cabinet.

"Following a debate on the matter, the federal cabinet [has] delayed the decision," he said, adding that until India does not revoke its August 5, 2019 decision, normalisation of relations is out of the question.