Pakistan pulls out of annual maritime dialogue with India

The Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) has cancelled its annual security dialogue with India. The PMSA and India's Coast Guard were supposed to meet for a three-day dialogue, from March 19 to 21. However, the Pakistani side has cancelled it, citing the prevailing security condition.

On February 26, India had attacked Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror camps in Balakot in Pakistan. JeM is the group responsible for the February 14 Pulwama attack.

India and Pakistan had held their first dialogue in two years last year, when Coast Guard director General Rajendra Singh and PMSA chief Rear Admiral Zaka Ur Rehman met in Delhi. Before that, the last meeting had taken place in Islamabad in 2016.

In the 2018 meeting, release of Indian fisherman in Pakistani custody was the the key focus for New Delhi. The Indian Coast Guard had said in a release, "During the meeting, the Indian side reiterated the need for instituting standard operating procedures (SOPs) for immediate release and repatriation of the fishermen who cross the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) inadvertently as the issue needs to be approached in a humanitarian context."

In all, 483 Indian fishermen are in Pakistani custody as per the list which was exchanged between the two sides on January 1 as part of a 2008 agreement. On January 17, PMSA fired upon an Indian fishing boat near Mitha port in Gujarat, in which one Indian fisherman died while six were rescued.

The dialogue is part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between India and Pakistan in 2005. The heads of ICG and PMSA also have a hotline link, on the lines of India Pakistan DGMOs, which is meant to facilitate regular exchange of information on non-military maritime issues as per the 2005 agreement.

MARITIME TALKS

The dialogue between PMSA and Indian Coast Guard is part of an MoU signed between India and Pakistan in 2005, but the last time it took place was in 2018 and that was after a gap of two years.