India, Pakistan should continue to talk, says Kerry (Second Lead)

NEW DELHI - US Senator John Kerry has asked India and Pakistan to continue to talk to each other despite the Pune bomb blast, and said he will ask Pakistan to take more action against jihadi groups that are targeting India.

Kerry, on a short visit to New Delhi, met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday afternoon. National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon was also present during the meeting.

He also discussed with Manmohan Singh Saturday’s Pune bomb blast which killed nine people, including three foreign nationals — an Italian woman, an Iranian student and a Nepali waiter. The US has already offered help in investigating the attack.

“The right thing is to talk; you lose nothing by talking,” Kerry told the Wall Street Journal in an interview here.

Kerry, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and former presidential candidate, noted that if India finds a Pakistan link to the Pune bombing, it should be part of talks of their two foreign secretaries in New Delhi Feb 25.

“I hope India will have that conversation with Pakistan and, if they have evidence to that effect, that should be the first thing on the table and Pakistan has to deal with it,” he said.

The Indian government has so far indicated that the talks are going ahead despite the bomb blast in Pune.

According to sources, Kerry assured the prime minister that he will ask Pakistan to put more pressure against extremist groups on its territory that are launching attacks against India.

Home Minister P. Chidambaram Sunday pointed out that the area of the blast was visited in 2008 by Pakistani-American Lashkar-e-Taiba operative David Headley, who is now in US custody.

Kerry had a 20-minute meeting with Manmohan Singh in the afternoon during which they discussed bilateral relations as well as the wider theatre of South Asia, especially the situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Kerry, who arrived in Delhi Sunday, had a separate meeting with Defence Minister A.K. Antony.

His visit assumes significance as it comes before India and Pakistan are to have their first significant foreign secretary-level contact after the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that left 166 people killed, including some foreigners.

Kerry’s last visit to New Delhi was in December 2008 just after 26/11, when he told an angry Indian government that Pakistan will be asked to do more to dismantle the terror infrastructure on its territory.

Kerry left for Islamabad Monday night.