NEW DELHI, May 27: Sincerity towards the goal and not the pace of progress is important for achieving the goal of peace and durable friendship with Pakistan, India’s External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said on Tuesday.
He was talking to the Associated Press of Pakistan here at his office in the South Block, adjacent to Rashtrapati Bhawan, while giving an exclusive interview.
Stressing the need for initiative for achieving required objectives, Mr Sinha said: “Our goal is peace and the establishment of a durable friendship. What is important, therefore, is not the pace of progress but sincerity to this goal ... It is important to ensure that the efforts are sustained on a firm foundation.”
To a question about resumption of air, road and rail links between the two countries, the Minister responded by saying: “most certainly,” adding: “We have already announced our willingness to restore civil aviation links on a reciprocal basis. We are ready to take further steps. It would be natural to restore road and rail links as we proceed further on the normalization path. This would naturally depend on the successful implementation of the measures announced so far, and the steps that Pakistan takes to end ‘cross-border infiltration’.”
Asked if India would like to pick up the thread for formal peace talks from the inconclusive Agra Summit, Mr Sinha said: “We would like to pick up all the old threads starting from Simla”.
He, however declined to set a specific timeframe for the start of formal talks, saying: “We have always been ready for talks with Pakistan ... “the time frame cannot be set by only one side”.
Referring to his statement regarding setting up of a joint mechanism for sharing of intelligence with Pakistan, Mr Sinha said the statement, attributed to him, had not been quoted in its entirety.
As a matter of fact, he said, he was asked by reporters to comment on Pakistan’s contention that it had no control over the people crossing the LoC and he had responded by saying that if “cross-border terrorism is taking place without the approval of Pakistan, let’s cooperate. And to begin with there could be a sharing of intelligence”.
Asked if India had undertaken the peace initiative under international pressure, Mr Sinha said: “India does not act under any international pressure”.
“Our interlocutors, of course, have expressed their support for good relations between our two countries. This is the policy of the government of India. This is also the approach that the people of India support.”
“We expect the international community, including the United States, to continue to exert pressure on Pakistan to end ‘cross- border terrorism’ in the context of the global war against terrorism and Pakistan’s commitment to end terrorism directed against India. The curbing of infiltration must be supplemented by dismantling of infrastructure of terrorism. That alone can build a conducive atmosphere for the proposed dialogue.”
