MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar

MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told mediapersons that elimination of terror from the region was the top agenda of the meeting between Ajit Doval and Lt Gen Nasser Khan Janjua

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday confirmed that national Security Advisors (NSAs) of India and Pakistan had recently held a ‘secret’ meeting in Thailand.

MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told media persons that elimination of terror from the region was the top agenda of the meeting between Ajit Doval and Lt Gen Nasser Khan Janjua.

Doval, the MEA official said, had also raised the issue of cross-border terrorism with his Janjua.

“I am agreeing that talks took place and our issue was eliminating terrorism from the region, we of course raised the issue of cross-border terrorism in those talks,” he said.

Kumar reaffirmed India’s stand that terror and talks cannot go together.

“We have said terror and talks can’t go together but talks on terror can definitely go ahead,” he opined.

NSAs of both the sides had held a ‘secret’ meeting in Thailand on December 27 last year.

A senior Pakistan's national security division official had last week said that "the meeting was good and that Doval's tone and tenor was friendly and positive”.

According to him, he was told the meeting was useful and said it might help in restarting some sort of engagement at the diplomatic level as well, the report said.