Some Indian forces against reviving talks: Pakistan

MULTAN - Pakistan said Saturday some Indian elements are against the revival of the sub-continental peace process.

“Some Indian forces did not want revival of talks with Pakistan,” Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said, adding Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh “is also facing internal resistance in holding talks with Pakistan”.

He was speaking to reporters after the convocation ceremony of the Bahauddin Zikria University here.

Pakistan “always intended to have cordial relations with India and we want India should come forward and hold composite dialogue with us”, Online news agency quoted Qureshi as saying.

Answering a question, he said “it was India who stalled talks with Pakistan and in such circumstances, back channel talks are out of question. Without using front door no one can use the backdoor channel”.

“Pakistan and India are nuclear armed nations and therefore it is vital that both should come the table for talks for long-lasting peace in the region,” Qureshi maintained, hoping that the composite dialogue, stalled by the 26/11 Mumbai that India has blamed on Pakistan, would soon be revived.

Qureshi’s remarks came a day after Pakistan indicated that a meeting between Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh could not be ruled out on the sidelines of the SAARC summit at Thimpu next week though New Delhi has ruled this out.

“The prime minister will hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts as well as representatives of observer states. Pakistan favours SAARC linkages with observers and international institutions to promote project-based development cooperation,” a foreign office statement Friday said.

The foreign office had earlier said neither country had made a request for a meeting, but they were open to one and an agreement could be reached on the sidelines of the SAARC summit.

India says the time is far from ripe for resuming the sub-continental dialogue.

Responding to a question in parliament, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Thursday reminded Islamabad to take action against 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed and “act in an expeditious and transparent manner against all those responsible for the Mumbai terrorist attack”.

Linking a resumption of full-fledged dialogue with action against terror, Krishna said India has reiterated that “the door for dialogue with Pakistan has never been closed, and meaningful dialogue with Pakistan is possible only in an environment free of terror or threat of terror”.