Action against Saeed not only benchmark: India to Pakistan

BRASILIA - India has made it clear to Pakistan that although action against Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed will help ease the strained atmosphere, it’s not the only benchmark that will satisfy New Delhi before it can think of resuming talks.

Action against Hafiz Saaed will be a useful indicator of Pakistan’s willingness to do something about India’s concerns over cross-border terror, informed sources said.

But action against Saeed is not the only benchmark, the sources said, adding that Islamabad has to do much more by way of credible action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai carnage before India can think of resuming talks.

The sources clarified at the same time that although no meeting has been planned between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani on the sidelines of the SAARC summit in Thimphu April 28-29, nothing is inevitable in diplomacy.

In Washington, where he had gone to attend the Nuclear Security Summit before coming to Brazil to attend two other multilateral summits, Manmohan Singh had stressed that Pakistan needs to do the minimum of taking credible action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai massacre.