India,
Pakistan for patience, sincerity ahead of talks
Wednesday June 22, 2011 08:27:14 PM,
IANS
|
New Delhi:
India and Pakistan underlined the need for patience and sincerity
ahead of talks between their foreign secretaries in Islamabad
starting Thursday.
Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao leaves for Islamabad
Thursday for two days of talks with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir. This will be followed by a meeting of their foreign
ministers next month.
Aware of the many hiccups in their relationship, New Delhi and
Islamabad are not trying to raise hopes from the meeting, which
takes place soon after a row involving an Indian and a Pakistani
warship.
Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna has said that in
"the kind of talks we are going to be involved with, patience is
something to be called for".
Indian officials have said they have "realistic expectations" from
the meeting, given the complexities of the bilateral relationship.
While India is expected to raise the role of anti-India terrorist
groups based in Pakistan, Islamabad has said the Kashmir dispute
would be a core issue on the agenda.
On Tuesday, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani underlined
the need to address main issues "with sincerity" and voiced
satisfaction about the diplomatic dialogue the two countries have
resumed.
Gilani, who travelled to India March 30 to witness the
India-Pakistan World Cup semi-final, called for more
people-to-people contacts and said the two countries needed to
live in peace.
Krishna said Monday that "terrorism was the central point" in
talks with Pakistan.
India has said it will raise the revelations of Pakistani-American
terrorist operative David Headley, who has alleged a close nexus
between the Pakistan spy agency ISI and the Laskar-e-Toiba
terrorist group.
The agreement to restart the comprehensive dialogue was reached in
April 2010 between the Indian and Pakistani prime ministers in
Bhutan.
It brought the two countries back to the discussion table after
the 2008 Mumbai terror attack blamed on Pakistani terrorists.
But the actual dialogue began only after the foreign secretaries
met in Thimphu in February this year.
This was followed by meetings between the commerce and home
secretaries of the two countries.
This apart, their defence secretaries discussed the
demilitarization of the Siachen glacier in Kashmir. India and
Pakistan also discussed the Sir Creek maritime border.
The build-up to the foreign secretaries talks have not been
promising.
Pakistan accused an Indian warship of "dangerous manoeuvres" in
the Gulf of Aden when a Pakistani naval vessel was ferrying
hostages freed by Somali pirates to Oman. India denied the charge.
Said an Indian official: "The whole comprehensive dialogue is to
narrow down the trust deficit."
|
Home |
Top of the Page |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Top
Stories |
Finally, Maharashtra govt nod to AMU Malegaon; ball now in VC's court
After a long battle by a local NGO and eight months after it received the land proposal from Malegaon to
establish Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) off campus centre here
in this Muslim dominated city of
»
Give us
AMU centre: Girl students of Malegaon demand on Women's Day
AMU Maharashtra: Malegaon gives land but Govt.
yet to accept the offer
|
|
Most
Read |
All-party
meet fails to evolve consensus on women's quota bill
An all-party meeting Wednesday failed to evolve consensus on the
women's reservation bill, with two of its major opponents, the
Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)
» |
All-party
meeting on Lokpal bill July 3
The government will convene a meeting of all political parties
July 3 to discuss the draft anti-graft Lokpal bill, official
sources said Wednesday. At the meeting, the draft bill and notes
on the disagreements expressed by the joint drafting committee's
two sides - the government and
»
Lokpal
meetings: A turbulent journey |
|
News Pick |
Why I Am
Part Of U.S. Boat To Gaza
People often ask me why I am part of a
team to organize a U.S. Boat to Gaza that will be sailing this
month with the next International Flotilla to break the siege of
Gaza. They often make clear they are asking because
» |
Shariah-Phobia in America
Are Muslim Americans trying to
impose a Taliban-style Shariah law in the USA ? Seemingly, the
answer is ‘yes', if you are a Republican politician. The idea that
America is this close to having her constitution replaced by the
Muslim Scripture
»
|
Panjab
University: Tracking down 'criminal' students
Hit by
rising incidents of campus violence, Panjab University (PU), one
of the oldest varsities in the country, has taken some bold steps,
including opening a webpage on trouble makers and asking new
students for affidavits
»
|
Chidambaram steps out to interact with Kashmiris, tourists
Home Minister P. Chidambaram Tuesday
stepped out of protocol to interact
»
Kashmir
militancy down by 50 pc: Police |
|
Picture of the Day |
 |
They are not high-profile celebrities,
but at least 33 wildlife lovers have adopted animals at Bhopal's Van Vihar National Park here
under their unique guardianship scheme. Others can also do the
same. A board is put outside the enclosure with the name of the
sponsor.
(Photo:
IANS) |
|
|
|