Call off talks with Pakistan, says BJP (Second Lead)

NEW DELHI - India should call off its proposed foreign secretary level talks with Pakistan following the bombing in Pune that killed nine people, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said Sunday.

“Terror and talks cannot co-exist. When terror threatens India, then not talking is also a legitimate diplomatic option,” BJP spokesperson Arun Jaitley told reporters here.

Foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan will meet in New Delhi Feb 25. This follows India’s decision to go back on its earlier insistence of not talking to Pakistan till the masterminds of the Mumbai terror attack were punished.

Jaitley accused the Indian government of taking an unexplained “U turn” on its negotiating stand in the peace dialogue with Pakistan.

“So (long) as Pakistan continues building an infrastructure for terror against India, and till such time that there is no cooperation in the context of 26/11, we cannot talk to Pakistan,” he said, referring to the attack on Mumbai by Pakistani terrorists that left 166 people dead.

“The composite dialogue cannot proceed,” Jaitley added.

The BJP leader also found fault with the government’s announcement to allow Kashmiris who crossed over to Pakistan in the early 1990s to return to India, saying it would “legitimize infiltration” of terrorists.

He called it, along with the decision to talk to Pakistan, as “misconceived and adventurous”.

“It is possible the central government is thinking of softening borders. Today’s situation does not permit this. The BJP urges the government to reconsider both these steps - allowing persons from PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) to return and resuming the dialogue with Pakistan,” he added.

The BJP condemned Saturday’s bomb blast in Pune which killed nine people and injured 57. The blast took place in the German Bakery eatery.

The German bakery is in the neighborhood of a Jewish settlement. The bakery is also visited by foreigners from the OSHO Ashram. The targeting of foreign nationals is also intended to create an international impact. This blast establishes that those inimical to India are continuing their war against India, Jaitley said.

….Indians will not accept India as a soft state. The government of India must seriously introspect whether our Intelligence collection and security responses are still inadequate. How then was a place visited by David Hadley still unprotected? he added.

The BJP leader said: The recommencement of the dialogue with Pakistan, irrespective of whether Pakistan stops allowing its soil to be used for terror against India, has made utterances of Pakistani leaders and Jehadi groups more belligerent. What has happened in Pune is a grim reminder to all of us about the fragility of our security and the adventurist traps we are walking into.