New Delhi, Jan 29, IRNA — A day after the Pakistan Prime Minister made a strong plea for resumption of Indo-Pak talks, India Friday ruled out the same but favoured some measured “communication” with the neighbour.
Asserting that Pakistan needs to pay “serious attention” and show that “it is sincere” in addressing India’s concerns over terrorism emanating from its soil, PTI reported, quoting top sources as saying the atmosphere is not conducive for the resumption of composite dialogue.
Pushing for resumption of Indo-Pak dialogue, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had Thursday said his country and India should not be held “hostage to one incident” of 26/11 and should hold talks since they cannot “afford war”.
“There has to be a lot of de-clogging that needs to be done after the Mumbai terror attacks… The atmosphere is not conducive…,” the sources said, while noting that the rise in the infiltration attempts in Jammu and Kashmir, despite it being the winter season, is a matter of concern.
“This is definitely a matter of concern for us,” they said.
However, admitting that no relationship can be “static”, the sources said there could be some “measured” communication between the countries.
“We are not ruling out such communication,” they said, indicating the possibility of contact between the foreign ministers and foreign secretaries of two countries.
“Some contact will take place but to take things really forward, we have to have a conducive atmosphere,” they said.
“We cannot say, here we stand, here we remain forever… We have to face reality….We have to consistently develop right responses and how we can engage the international community,” the top sources said.
Asked what kind of issues can be discussed in absence of composite dialogue framework, they said issues of fishermen, prisoners and people-to-people contact can be taken up.
On Hafiz Saeed, the alleged mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, they said, “He is culpable” and there were leads to prove that.
India has been maintaining that sufficient evidence has been provided to Pakistan to act against Saeed, while Pakistan has been claiming that evidence given to it against him was not “legally tenable.”
India has been pressing Pakistan to dismantle terror infrastructure and take action against terror outfits indulging in anti-India acts.