'Sartaj Aziz to meet Sushma Swraj in Nepal'

Islamabad, March 14  Pakistan Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz is expected to meet Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Nepal, sources said on Monday.

Quoting diplomatic sources, Express News reported that India and Pakistan were exploring the possibility of a meeting between Sushma Swaraj and Aziz and also between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in the Nepali tourist city of Pokhara. 

Aziz and Swaraj will be in Pokhara for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Council of Foreign Ministers' meeting on March 16 and 17. 

"Sartaj Aziz will meet Foreign Ministers of Saarc Countries on the sidelines of the Saarc Council of Ministers’ meeting on 17 March 2016 in Nepal," a foreign ministry release here said.

"Aziz will extend Sharif’s formal invitation to their respective Heads of State/Heads of Government for the 19th Saarc Summit, being hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad this year," it added.

The efforts to resume the India-Pakistan Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue hit a deadlock after the terror attack on Pathankot airbase that India has said was carried out by militants from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group. 

Sources said Aziz and Sishma Swaraj, if they meet, will discuss the possibility of an interaction between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi later this month in Washington. 

The two prime ministers are scheduled to travel to the United States later this month to attend a nuclear security summit to be hosted by US President Barack Obama.