Manmohan meets Aziz, talks quake relief, infiltration

The Delhi blasts and the increase in terrorist incidents in Kashmir weighed on the mind of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday when he met his Pakistani counterpart Shaukat Aziz to make it clear that the peace process was being ‘‘deflected’’ by terrorist incidents and rising infiltration.

Even as Teetwal, the third crossing point on the Line of Control, was opened on Saturday, the two leaders discussed LoC relief efforts during their meeting on the margins of the 13th SAARC Summit. The PM promised his Pakistani counterpart that India will be represented at another meeting that Islamabad is trying to organise on November 19, for aid to the relief effort.

But the Prime Minister also reminded Aziz that it was imperative to stop cross border terrorism. ‘‘Terrorism continues, infiltration incidents continue and all this obviously has an impact on public opinion in India,’’ said Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran after the meeting.

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On Pakistan’s suggestion of the dimilitarisation of Kashmir, Saran said there was ‘‘no question’’ of this or any sort of withdrawal unless there is an end to cross border terrorism and infiltration.

‘‘And why only the LoC, India and Pakistan should reach a point of trust that troops can be withdrawn from the entire Indo-Pak border.’’