NEW DELHI, Nov 17: The dispute over the Siachen Glacier between India and Pakistan could be solved in hours, not days, given the chance, Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee was quoted as saying on Friday.
Asked about Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri's statement that the Siachen dialogue had reached a stage where the issue could be resolved in a few days, Mr. Mukherjee told the Hindustan Times: "If we all agree, then anything can be resolved in a few hours. Why do we need a few days?" He recalled that the talks were still in progress.About the foreign secretary-level talks, Mr Mukherjee said they had gone along “expected lines.”
He said that he was pleased that the details of the joint mechanism against terror had been fleshed out, but was cautious. "The taste of the pudding is in the eating," he said about functioning of the mechanism.
Mr Mukherjee said that India had "reasonably strong evidence" of involvement of Pakistani agencies in terrorism in the country. “No country under the sun will ever say that it has sanctioned terrorist activity," the foreign minister added.
Asked if this involvement was on the part of freelancers or government organisations, Mr Mukherjee was categorical that governmental organisations were involved. He said that India had, in the past, provided Pakistan evidence of location of training camps of terrorist organisations.
"But just because some of these organisations have changed their name, it does not make a difference. The individuals are still the same."
He said if he were prosecuting counsel approaching a judge with a case charging Pakistani organisations with terrorism, he would regard his case as being strong and would be confident "that my case would carry conviction with the presiding officer of the court."
