India-Pakistan talks: Terror, Kashmir on table

NEW DELHI - Ahead of the foreign-secretary level talks with Pakistan June 24, India Sunday said it was ready to discuss all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, “not in an accusatory, but in an exploratory way” to bridge trust- deficit over its continuing concerns over cross-border terror.

“We are going there not in accusatory mode, but we are going there in an exploratory mode,” official sources said here four days before Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao holds talks with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir in Islamabad Thursday.

The talks, the sources said, will focus on steps to reduce trust-deficit, “even if they are modest”.

Rao will also call on Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

Outlining India’s approach towards the crucial talks, the sources pointed out that although all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, will be discussed, New Delhi will stress on its continuing concerns over terrorism.

“All issues that concern this relationship will fall within the scope of this dialogue,” said the sources when asked whether Jammu and Kashmir will figure in the discussions.

From New Delhi’s standpoint, terror will top the agenda.

“Our concerns over terrorism are very real and have not diminished,” the sources said.

India will press for the speedy trial of the seven suspects in Pakistan, concrete action against Hafiz Saeed, the suspected mastermind of the Mumbai carnage and against those groups based in Pakistan that nurture anti-India agenda.

The Indian side indicated that its effort will be to ensure that dialogue is not broken off by addressing the issue of terrorism that has complicated the relations between the two countries. Responsibility rests on the Pakistani side to ensure that there are no attacks against Indian nationals, Indian interests and India, the sources said.

Rao will leave for Islamabad Wednesday, along with Home Secretary G.K. Pillai who will participate in the meetings of senior officials of the SAARC countries.

Rao’s talks with Bashir will be followed by Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s participation in the SAARC meeting of home ministers in Islamabad Saturday.

India is hoping that the foreign secretary-level talks will lead to “good and productive” talks between foreign ministers of the two countries when they meet in Islamabad July 15.

The two sides are likely to announce some confidence building measures at the July 15 meeting to signal progress in the direction of resuming their dialogue that stalled after the Mumbai attacks.

The meeting between Rao and Bashir flows from an understanding between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani in Thimphu April 29.