Infiltration won’t impact on Indo-Pak talks

India has said its Foreign Secretary-level talks with Pakistan will “not be affected” despite increased infiltration by militants from across the border and the neighbouring nation’s failure to dismantle terror groups operating from its soil.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony, however, said Pakistan had taken “some action” against the terrorists responsible for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks as per India’s wishes, and that was why India had taken a conscious decision to go ahead with the dialogue. “It (infiltration and failure to dismantle terror groups) won’t affect our dialogue or the scheduled meeting at the Foreign Secretary level,” Antony told reporters in New delhi on the sidelines of an Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) Conference on Asian Security.

“It is not sudden talks. We have been watching what action Pakistan has been taking (against terror groups responsible for Mumbai attacks). Even though we are not fully satisfied on the action taken by Pakistan, we feel they have taken some action as per our wish. So it is a positive development. So we decided to initiate talks,” he said.

Noting that it was “a happy” situation for peace-loving people both within India and outside, he said there were forces bent upon creating “chaos and trouble”. They were “disturbed and perturbed that the situation is going in a different direction.”
Maintaining that 42 terrorist outfits operating from across the border were still intact, he said, “There is no attempt by the government of Pakistan to dismantle these terror outfits. It is a matter of concern for us.”

Earlier, addressing the IDSA conference, Antony said the terror infrastructure continued to thrive on Pakistani soil and that India continued to be firm with its demand that Pakistan must put an end to terror activities emanating from its soil.

Meanwhile, Pakistan said on Thursday there are no pre-conditions on either side for the proposed Foreign Secretary-level talks, indicating its readiness for parley's with India later this month. "Let's not get into specifics. At this stage it is important to remember that there are no pre-conditions on either side," Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit told reporters in Islamabad.

The talks between Foreign Secretaries Nirupama Rao and Salman Bashir are likely to be held on February 25. Basit's remarks came hours after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani accused India of trying to sidestep Kashmir issue, saying "In fact, they (India) do not want to talk about Kashmir." Gilani was also quoted as saying that the Indo-Pak composite dialogue, covering eight issues including Kashmir and stalled since the Mumbai terror attacks, is the "only way forward".

Responding to the two sets of dates proposed by India for the talks, Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that February 25 is "not a bad date" for the talks. Foreign secretary Nirupama Rao had proposed February 18 and 25 as dates for the talks. "What is important is that we start talking. Of course we feel that these talks should be the re-start of the composite dialogue and take it up from where we left off. After all, all the issues that both sides want to raise are included in the composite dialogue," he said in separate interviews to Geo news channel and the News daily.

"We have many outstanding issues on our agenda, like the Kashmir issue that India recognises. There is the waters issue on which there should be talks," he added. The objective of Wednesday’s inter-ministerial meet was to consult all stakeholders and discuss India's offer in the backdrop of the meeting between High Commissioner Malik and Foreign Secretary Rao.

- Asian Tribune -