Pakistan has indicated it would not be possible for it to send its foreign secretary to India for talks without making progress towards on the composite dialogue, stalled in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, a private TV channel reported on Monday.
“If India wants talks on one-point agenda and other issues have been ignored, then Pakistan is unlikely to send its foreign secretary to India for talks”, the channel quoted sources privy to the developments as saying.
The report came a day after Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi talked tough, saying Pakistan had not knelt before India, and that it had now been forced to return to the negotiation table.
“India had broken off the composite dialogue process and spoken of severing contacts with Pakistan. It has come to us and sought talks. We never kneeled before them and did not bow to their pressure,” Qureshi said at a gathering in his Multan hometown Sunday.
It was made known Sunday that India had proposed two dates, Feb 18 or Feb 25, for the foreign secretary level talks.
At the same time, India said it was premature to talk about resuming the composite dialogue at the present moment and has made it clear to Pakistan that the proposed talks are part of “a step-by-step incremental approach” and that Islamabad should “do more” to address New Delhi’s concerns over cross-border terror.
Pakistani High Commissioner Shahid Malik is in Islamabad to discuss the dates with the foreign office.
The TV channel quoted sources as saying that Malik had been called to Islamabad to ascertain whether India was ready for resuming the composite dialogue or wants talks on a one point agenda.
Malik had met Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao in New Delhi on Friday to work out the modalities for the talks, during which New Delhi had indicated that it was ready to discuss all bilateral issues of concern.
Posted in International, Top News | Tagged 26/11, Islamabad, Mumbai terror attacks, New Delhi, Nirupama Rao, pakistan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, TV