Sajjan Jindal meets Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif triggering speculations of "back channel talks"

Steel tycoon Sajjan Jindal held a meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the hill resort town of Murree on Thursday triggering speculations of  "back channel" talks between the two countries, according to the Pakistani media.

Jindal, the chairman and managing director of JSW Steel, is also believed to have facilitated a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and counterpart Nawaz Sharif meet in December 2015, even though New Delhi denied it.

Jindal met Sharif at his private residence in the country's hill station Murree, about 45 kms from Islamabad. The family members of Sharif received Jindal at the Islamabad airport after his visit to Afghanistan. Jindal was later escorted to Murree in an official protocol where he had an hour-long meeting with the prime minister.

The meeting could be precursor to talks between the two leaders  during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in June in Kazakhstan, Pakistan's The Express Tribune said.

"Although nothing has officially been shared about the context of this meeting, it is believed it was part of back-channel diplomacy to arrange a meeting between the Pakistani and Indian prime ministers on the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit to be held in June in Astana, Kazakhstan," the paper noted.

The meeting between Jindal and Sharif, however, has caused a political storm in Islamabad with the opposition criticising Sharif for keeping the meeting with Jindal a 'secret'.

In fact, the prime minister's daughter, Maryam Nawaz, was forced to clear the air by tweeting that Jindal was an 'old friend' of the Prime Minister

Meanwhile, a resolution was today submitted in Pakistan's Punjab Assembly against the "secret" meeting of Sharif and Jindal.

Punjab Assembly Opposition leader Mian Mahmoodur Rashid submitted the resolution in the assembly, saying Sharif held a "secret" meeting with a three-member Indian delegation led by businessman Sajjan Jindal in Murree.

"Jindal brought the message of Modi (which seems to be about Kulbhushan Jadhav). The people of Pakistan should be told as why the premier kept his meeting with Jindal secret.

What was the purpose of this meeting at a time when India is bent upon isolating Pakistan in the world," the resolution said.

PTI spokesman Fawad Chaudhry said: "Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will have to tell the people as why he felt the need to hold a secret meeting with an Indian businessman".

Jindal is said to be the man behind arranging a meeting between Modi and Sharif in Lahore on December 25 in 2015 on the occasion of Sharif's birthday and the marriage his grand daughter Mehr-un-Nisa.