It’s not composite dialogue, Krishna tells Pakistan

India has made it clear to Pakistan that the proposed Foreign Secretary-level talks between the two countries, beginning on Feb 25 should not be “mistaken” for resumption of composite dialogue, which remains suspended.

This was affirmed by External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna on Wednesday in New Delhi. Krishna said, "Let the nation not be under mistaken inference that composite dialogue is being renewed... The issue that we raised remained to be addressed by Pakistan with a degree of seriousness."

In the meantime, Pakistan High Commissioner Shahid Malik on Wednesday met Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and discussed issues related to the February 25 Indo-Pak meeting. Malik met Rao after his return from Islamabad where he held consultations with the Pakistan government on the meeting between the foreign secretaries of the two countries.

After a 14-month hiatus, India on January 28 had offered to hold talks with Pakistan in New Delhi. Pakistan accepted the offer last Friday. However, there are differences on the agenda for the talks. India underlines that it would focus on cross-border terrorism while Pakistan says it would want to discuss other issues like Kashmir and water. Pakistan is also pressing for resumption of composite dialogue, which was halted by India in the wake of Mumbai attacks of November 2008.

India has made it clear that the foreign secretary-level talks were only aimed at "unlocking" the channels of communications and would not mean resumption of composite dialogue. Already the opposition BJP is gunning for the UPA government for offering talks at a time when nothing substantial has been done by Islamabad to check terror-related activities on its soil.

Krishna told TV channels: "These are exploratory talks. All that I am saying is that we are going to concentrate on terror which is emanating from Pakistan and the terror activities and terror infrastructure which is there which is yet to be dismantled. So our concern, our core concern is going to be terror."

On Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed and other jehadi leaders freely addressing rallies against India, Krishna said, "It is the way the Pakistan functions. The government perhaps is not capable of restraining these jehadis from continuing with their vituperative statements against India, showing their hostility openly against India."

The minister also emphasised the need to have talks, saying, "... in order to carry forward the core issue as far as India is concerned about terror and terror-driven activities emanating from Pakistan, we thought that it is necessary to engage Pakistan in this very critical area of terror."

Minister of state for Defence M M Pallam Raju has said that Pakistan was failing miserably in controlling terrorism by categorising terrorists as "good" and "bad" and that it needed to deal with the terror issue in an evenhanded manner. "Pakistan is failing miserably and they are trying to say that there are good terrorists and there are bad terrorists, which is wrong. "I think they have to deal with an entire spectrum of terrorism in an evenhanded manner," Pallam Raju told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.

Militants can’t dictate terms: Chidambaram

Dismissing the threats from across the border by unit of Al-Qaeda, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram assured to all the international players, who are participating in IPL, Hockey World Cup and Commonwealth Games by saying that militants would not be allowed to dictate terms.

"All security would be provided to players," Chidambaram told reporters here in response to a question on the Harkat-ul-Jihadi-Islami (HuJI) warning sportspersons against visiting India. The message from Illyas Kashmiri, a HuJI commander in Pakistan having close ties with the Al Qaeda, was sent to Asia Times Online Monday, two days after the Pune bombing which killed 11 people.

"No one would be allowed to dictate terms to us," Chidambaram said at a press conference in Jammu after reviewing the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir at a meeting of the unified command, a strategic group comprising representatives of the army, paramilitary forces, police and intelligence agencies.

The minister, on a one-day visit to the state, also held discussions with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on the proposed surrender and rehabilitation policy for militants returning from Pakistan administered Kashmir. "We have asked the centre to prepare a draft of this policy," the home minister said.

"There is nothing sinister in the policy," said Chidambaram, who arrived in Jammu less than a week after announcing the acceptance of the state's policy on the amnesty. However, describing the policy as an "assault on nationalist forces", the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also held a demonstration to coincide with the minister's visit.

JuD chief Hafiz Saeed, mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, on Wednesday said India must accept Kashmir as a "core dispute" if it wants to restore confidence in the dialogue with Pakistan. "India has never had a sincere interest in opening dialogue. When they do, it is because of national interest. If India wants to restore confidence in opening dialogue with Pakistan, then India must accept Kashmir as a core dispute," Saeed told Qatar-based Al-Jazeera news channel. Jamaat-ud-Dawah is the front organisation of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is accused by India of executing the 26/11 strikes that killed 166 people, including foreigners.

- Asian Tribune -