The National Security Advisers (NSAs) of India and Pakistan met on December 26 in Bangkok, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed on Thursday.

Commenting on the meeting, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said it was part of the mechanism to hold Pakistan accountable for the terrorism that emanates from its territory.

“We raised the issue of cross-border terrorism in those talks because our main issue is how to ensure the safety of our region from the scourge of cross-border terrorism. We have said earlier that talks and terror can not go together but ‘talks on terror’ can definitely go ahead,” said Mr. Kumar, acknowledging that the NSA-level parleys are part of the ‘operational level talks’ that take place between India and Pakistan, despite the breakdown in the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue (CBD) that was launched in December 2015.

The ‘talks on terror’ model to engage Pakistan is a change in the position that India had taken following the attack on the Pathankot airbase when New Delhi had cancelled the CBD.

The dialogue was launched by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during her visit to Islamabad on December 9, 2015.