Sushma Swaraj to visit Pakistan for multilateral conference on Tuesday, to hold talks with Sartaj Aziz

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will travel to Islamabad on Tuesday on a two-day visit during which she will hold talks with Pakistan's advisor on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz and attend a multilateral conference on Afghanistan.

Welcoming the dialogue with India, Aziz said, "Looking forward to meet Sushma Swaraj in Pakistan tomorrow. Talking is the only solution and will discuss on various issues."

"External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to lead Indian delegation for 'Heart of Asia' 5th Ministerial Meeting on Afghanistan on December 9 in Islamabad," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.

"On Tuesday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is leaving for Islamabad and will give a statement after coming back. Government will brief in detail on talks in both Houses after Sushma ji returns from Islamabad," said Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

Meanwhile, former external affairs minister and senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha questioned the government's move to hold talks with Pakistan. "Why India is resuming talks, what happen on ground Terror and talks can't go together and it is BJP's policy. Now it seems in the meeting in Bangkok they discussed various issue including Jammu and Kashmir. Now Sushma ji going to Pakistan seems we are resuming talks with Pakistan without anything happening on ground. Terror attack is going on and India is saying Pakistan is behind it then why there is change in the stand," said Sinha.

Backing Sinha, Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor said, "PM should explain what is the vision for India-Pakistan relationship. There seems to be confusion. We too want peace, but peace with self-respect. Sending a terrorist one day and a diplomat the other, this won't do."

Swaraj's visit comes two days after talks between the National Security Advisors of India and Pakistan on Sunday in Bangkok, where they discussed terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir and a range of key bilateral issues apart from agreeing to carry forward the "constructive" engagement.

The External Affairs Minister will call on Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and meet his Adviser on Foreign Affairs Aziz on the sidelines of the 'Heart of Asia' regional conference on Afghanistan on Wednesday.

Her visit comes three years after former external affairs minister SM Krishna travelled to Islamabad in 2012 when the countries also inked a visa liberalisation pact.

During her visit, Swaraj will be accompanied by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, who was also present during the four-hour-long meeting between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart Naseer Janjua in the Thai capital.

The joint statement after the meeting of NSAs said the talks were held pursuant to a meeting between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the climate meet in Paris, rejecting the version given by the Indian side then that it was a mere "exchange of courtesies" although Sharif had told Pakistani media that he had a "good meeting" and "doors of dialogue should open".

Before Paris, Modi and Sharif had held bilateral meeting in Russian city of Ufa where they decided that their NSAs would meet to discuss all "terror-related" issues.

However, Pakistan had called-off Aziz' visit after New Delhi had made it clear that he would not be allowed to meet Kashmiri separatist leaders in the Indian capital.

(With additional information from PTI)