India has said, its proposal to have Foreign Secretary-level talks with Pakistan was an initiative to unlock the dialogue process and convey directly its immediate concerns about cross-border terrorism. Highly placed sources said, the offer of dialogue does not mean that it had given up on its expectations about satisfactory, tangible and concrete action by Pakistan against terrorism and bringing the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack to justice. Making it clear that India will approach the talks with an open mind, sources said it was ready for dialogue on a range of issues in a comprehensive manner but not necessarily in the format of the composite dialogue that was halted because of 26/11. AIR correspondent reports, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao called up her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir more than a week back and invited him to Delhi for talks.<br/><br/> India, which suspended composite dialogue after Mumbai attacks of November 2008, has proposed two sets of dates to Pakistan for the talks this month. Pakistan's response is awaited. While India's concerns with regard to cross-border terrorism remain, the sources pointed out that there are many other issues in the relationship such as consular access, confidence building measures and people-to-people contact which need to be discussed. On the issue of terrorism, the sources said India has been conveying concerns over it through various channels but it would be better to directly put across India's point of view to Pakistan through the forum of bilateral dialogue. While the dialogue in bilateral format has remained suspended since 26/11, leaders and officials of the two countries have been meeting on the sidelines of multilateral events.
News On AIR | February 7, 2010 8:41 AM
New Delhi proposes Foreign Secretary level talks to unlock dialogue process with Pak