Pakistan’s high commissioner Shahid Malik, back from consultations with his government in Islamabad, met foreign secretary Nirupama Rao in South Block on Wednesday.
They discussed the agenda for talks between the foreign secretaries of the two countries scheduled for February 25 in New Delhi. Neither side was keen to give details. “It will be left to the two secretaries to take the dialogue forward at their discretion,” a Pakistani diplomat said.
Not unexpectedly, the Mumbai terror attacks and the follow-up action by Pakistan will be on top of India’s agenda. Pune will also be on the table, after a little-known Jihadi group from Pakistan, the Lashkar-e-Taibaal-Almi, claimed responsibility for the German bakery blast.
For PM Manmohan Singh, singed by the Sharm el-Sheikh joint statement, the decision to give peace another chance is a gamble which could backfire, especially after the Pune blast where speculations about the Lashkar-e-Taiba’s involvement persist. So the government insists that terror is the focal point of the talks. The message to the domestic audience is don’t worry, the dialogue will be focused on this one issue (terror) and that this is not being done from a position of weakness.
For good measure, not just Mumbai and Pune, but every other terror strike including the parliament attack of 2001 will be brought up and Islamabad told to act.
The issue of India’s most wanted, people like Dawood Ibrahim and those wanted in the Mumbai blasts, will be renewed. Pakistan was asked to hand over these terrorists and criminals to India to stand trial.
“Let the nation not be mistaken that composite dialogue is being renewed. Composite dialogue was suspended with very good reason. The issue that we raised remained to be addressed by Pakistan with a degree of seriousness,” external affairs minister SM Krishna told a TV channel here.
India did not rule out Pakistan raising the issue of Kashmir or river waters, realising that for the civilian government this is a priority.
