By IANS,
New Delhi : Making it clear that terror and negotiations cannot go on at the same time, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Thursday said the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan will meet in New York later this month to review Islamabad action’s against the 26/11 perpetrators.
“So far the foreign secretaries have not been able to meet. Hopefully, they will meet in New York, and depending on the outcome, the foreign ministers will meet,” Krishna told the Editors’ Guild of India here.
The meeting between the foreign ministers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly was agreed during the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt July 16.
According to the contentious Sharm el-Sheikh joint statement, the foreign secretaries of the two countries will meet “as often as possible” before the foreign ministers meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. But no meeting has taken place so far due to Pakistan’s perceived inaction against those who masterminded the Mumbai terrorist attacks.
Pakistan had invited Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao to Islamabad for talks, but New Delhi cited scheduling problems to signal its unhappiness.
Rao will now meet Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir to prepare the stage for a likely meeting between Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
In the strongest statement after the Sharm el-Sheikh meeting, Krishna said the onus was on Islamabad to unveil the conspiracy behind the Mumbai attacks and underlined that terrorism and negotiations cannot go on at the same time.
Indicating the hardening Indian stand, Krishna said Pakistan has a vested interest in blocking the inquiry into the 26/11 attacks and safeguarding terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed.
“It is in our vital interest to normalise our relations with Pakistan. However, we are at a stage where it is for Pakistan to determine the kind of relationship it wants to have with India,” said Krishna.
“The Mumbai attack was launched from Pakistan and the conspiracy behind the attack was hatched there. Clearly the onus is on Pakistan to unveil the conspiracy,” he said.
Reminding Pakistan of its anti-terror pledge, Krishna said: “Let me emphasise that it is our considered position that there should be concrete action against those guilty of the Mumbai terrorist attack before there can be any meaningful dialogue with Pakistan,” he said.
“Until the Mumbai attack, India was conducting the composite dialogue with utmost sincerity. But we cannot have terrorism and negotiations at the same time,” Krishna said.
“Pakistan has to prove its credentials by implementing its assurances,” he emphasised.
Krishna’s tough talk restores the link between Pakistan’s action against anti-India terror and composite dialogue that some thought was delinked in the Sharm el Sheikh joint statement.
In an interview with the Headlines Today, Krishna said: “It’s an orchestrated voice emanating from Pakistan. They have a vested interest in safeguarding Hafiz Saeed. We have no doubt that Saeed is the brain behind the 26/11 attacks and have evidence to prove it.”