Sushma meets ex-envoys, govt may tweak talks agenda

NEW Delhi: Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj Sunday held a meeting with former Indian envoys to Pakistan to discuss the way forward with the neighbouring country in the wake of the Pathankot attack. That the government felt the need for such a meeting is being seen as an attempt to control any political fallout of the attack which comes within days of PM Narendra Modi’s Lahore outreach.
The government is also keen to dispel the notion that it acted whimsically on Pakistan. The list of those invited was a veritable who’s who of India’s Pakistan diplomacy over the years. It included names like Shiv Shankar Menon, G Parthasarathy, S S Sabharwal, Satyabrata Pal, Shyam Saran, Satinder Lambah and just retired T C A Raghavan. Foreign secretary S Jaishankar was also present.