India Pakistan officials meet in New Delhi

Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar met with his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said, "India's FS [Foreign Secretary] emphasized the need for early and visible progress on the Pathankot terrorist attack investigation as well as the Mumbai case trial in Pakistan."

The Indian Foreign Secretary "conveyed that Pakistan cannot be in denial of the impact of terrorism on bilateral relationship. Terrorist groups based in Pakistan must not be allowed to operate with impunity," Swarup added.

The Pakistani government said it had raised "all outstanding issues" during a meeting, including a dispute over Kashmir. The country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted this message:

Islamabad also raised the issue of the capture of Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian spy, and expressed concerns about New Delhi's activities in Pakistan's northwestern Balochistan province and in the southern city of Karachi.

The two countries suspended talks between their foreign secretaries earlier this year after a terror attack on India's Pathankot airbase - blamed on a Pakistan-based militant group - left seven soldiers dead. The strike came barely a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise visit to Pakistan's eastern city, Lahore, the first by an Indian leader in 11 years.

Pakistan said it had arrested several suspects belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammed, the group believed to have carried out the strike on the airbase. Islamabad also sent five investigators to India in March to probe the attack. However, there was no report of any progress on the probe.

Relations between the two neighbors worsened in 2008, when suspected Pakistan-based militants attacked India's financial capital Mumbai, killing over 160 people.

The two countries have fought three wars since 1947, when Pakistan separated from India following the end of British colonial rule.

mg/jm (AP, AFP)