By IANS,
New Delhi : Downplaying serious differences in talks with Pakistan, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Friday said bilateral ties could not be normalised until Islamabad acted against 26/11 terrorists and stressed that the talks made “some headway” in reducing trust deficit between the two countries.
After a three-day visit to Islamabad, the first major talks since 26/11 attacks, Krishna stressed that Pakistan has assured India on acting “with full force against 26/11 terrorists” and to fulfill the pledge not to allow the Pakistani territory to be used for terror against India.
“Terror is the biggest obstacle in normalising relations with Pakistan. Unless this is met, everything else will be futile,” Krishna told reporters at the Delhi airport.
The minister, whose joint press conference with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi had ended in acrimony in Islamabad Thursday, said he had told the leadership of Pakistan that it would have to take action against the perpetrators of the November 2008 Mumbai attack.
“We have made some headway,” Krishna told reporters here in a bid to conjure up a hopeful note despite the general impression that the talks between the two countries Thursday ended in deadlock and acrimony. India wanted these talks to be gradual and incremental to ease the trust deficit, he added.
“We talked about some of the issues that confront our relationship,” he said while describing his talks with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi as “cordial, frank and useful”.
“We exchanged views on all issues concerning our relationship,” Krishna said, adding that the two ministers discussed steps required to pave way for serious, comprehensive and sustained dialogue.
Krishna said the talks enabled both sides to have a better understanding of each other’s positions and he had conveyed to the Pakistani side that terror was the biggest obstacle in the normalisation of relations between the two countries.
He added that during his talks he impressed upon his Pakistani interlocutors the need for effective action against the terror directed against India and reminded them to fulfill the pledge not to allow the Pakistani territory to be used for terror against India.
“These steps would go a long way in building trust and confidence,” he said.
“The government of Pakistan will do everything in its power to fulfil its commitment,” he said while alluding to the assurance given to him by Pakistani leaders.
The Pakistani side, Krishna said, has assured that the leads given by India based on the disclosures by Pakistan-American Lashkar-e-Taiba operative linking LeT and figures in the Pakistani establishment will be pursued vigorously.
Stating that he didn’t want to score debating points over Qureshi, Krishna said: “I have invited Qureshi to visit India. I am looking forward to resuming the dialogue from where we left it yesterday.”
In a televised press conference with Pakistani journalists barely minutes before Krishna left for New Delhi, Qureshi took potshots at Krishna and launched a broadside against India’s alleged “selective focus on terror”, triggering anger and outrage in New Delhi.
There is “absolutely no comparison” between union Home Secretary G.K. Pillai and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed, Krishna said. He was referring to Qureshi mentioning the Indian bureaucrat’s remarks on the Inter-Services Intelligence’s alleged role in the Mumbai attacks on being asked a question about Saeed during their joint press conference Thursday.
“Where is the question of comparison between the two statements. He is a person who has been speaking out of turn against India. He has been crying for jihad against India,” said Krishna.
He said India had always maintained that people in Pakistan who incite “anti-india propaganda” would not help “smoothen the relationship between the two countries”.
“Pillai is supposed to have made a statement to a particular newspaper,” the minister said, adding that the home secretary’s allegations on the ISI being involved in the 26/11 Mumbai strike was a result of the access Indian officials had to US terror suspect David Coleman Headley.
Krishna has been criticised by chief opposition BJP for not defending Pillai at the press conference.
Krishna rejected remarks by Qureshi at an interaction with Pakistani journalists that he was in touch with New Delhi during the talks in Islamabad, saying that he was “totally cut off from India”.
To a question on whether back channel diplomacy was more effective in the context of the acrimony seen in Pakistan, he said: “This will have to be evaluated.”