India rows back to discuss Kashmir in surprise NSA talks

THE national security advisers of Pakistan and India met for a brief and unannounced meeting in Bangkok on Sunday and a joint statement they issued shows New Delhi rowing back from its recent position and agreeing to discuss Jammu and Kashmir in the otherwise familiar mix of issues.

The ‘candid and cordial’ meeting between Pakistan’s recently appointed NSA retired Lt Gen Nasser Khan Janjua and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval is being seen by political pundits as a ‘side effect’ of the Bihar elections in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP was humiliated.