India breaks the 26/11 ice,calls Pak for talks

In Islamabad,Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said there were signals emanating from India that it was willing to hold bilateral talks.

“We welcome this if it leads to resumption of composite dialogue,” he was quoted as saying. “I think it is a very positive development,we would like to engage with India in a constructive manner.”

Earlier,Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit welcomed the move to resume talks,but insisted that the talks should be “result-oriented” and cover all outstanding issues,including Kashmir and sharing of river waters.

Qureshi had provided what he called a roadmap to counterpart S M Krishna on the margins of the UN General Assembly last September. This entailed holding the first round of talks between the Foreign Secretaries,followed by one between Foreign Ministers and then a summit meeting between the two Prime Ministers. This,however,drew no response then from New Delhi which maintained that resumption of dialogue would depend only on meaningful progress in the 26/11 investigations. Even now,South Block is of the view that the meeting of Foreign Secretaries should not be construed as resumption of the dialogue process just yet.

Sources said the government is moving cautiously this time given the political backlash after the Sharm-el-Sheikh joint statement which sought to delink the dialogue process from terrorism directed at India from Pakistan soil. This time the government is keen to make the point that the core focus at the talks will be on cross-border terrorism. At the same time,the discussions will look at other “peace and stability” issues.

Home Minister P Chidambaram’s visit to Islamabad this month too will be helpful. He will be accompanied by the Home Secretary and the Director of Intelligence Bureau. Though this is a SAARC meeting,bilateral engagements will be scheduled on the margins.

India had not stopped the ongoing CBMs during the pause in dialogue after 26/11 but the absence of regular official interaction had started having an adverse impact. Bilateral trade had fallen drastically,people-to-people exchange had reduced with fewer visas being issued and cross-LoC trade could not take off fully because infrastructural issues still need to be sorted out through dialogue.

In this context,India has conveyed it will come to the table with an open mind. “We have proposed Foreign Secretary level talks with Pakistan. We will approach these discussions with an open and positive mind. We will raise all relevant issues from our side. The issue of counter-terrorism will be raised as will other issues that could contribute to creating an atmosphere of peace and stability between the two countries. Let us not prejudge the outcome of this meeting,” said official sources.

This dialogue also has a bearing on larger issues related to developments in the broader AfPak region. With its overtures drawing no answer from New Delhi,Islamabad had begun to take a more combative approach against involving India in any regional discussion on the future of Afghanistan. It was at Pakistan’s instance that India was not involved in the Turkey-sponsored regional meeting. The US too has been indicating to India that starting a conversation was better than having no interaction at all.