NEW DELHI, Sept 5: India has proposed new talks with Pakistan as part of an initiative to share information and intelligence on terrorist attacks, an Indian foreign ministry official said on Wednesday.
The anti-terror panel initiative was unveiled late last year when top Indian and Pakistani diplomats resumed peace talks in New Delhi after the July 2006 train bombings in Mumbai in which 186 people died.
It was supposed to meet quarterly, but after its first meeting in Islamabad in March — which focused on the firebombing of a train linking the two countries that killed 68 people — no further talks have taken place.
“We have suggested some dates (in October-November) through diplomatic channels. We are waiting for a response,” said the Indian official, who did not want to be named.
Another official said political turmoil in Pakistan could be a cause of delays in contacts.
“With the kind of fluid situation that Pakistan is witnessing right now, it is natural that the anti-terror panel is not a priority at the moment,” said the official, who also asked not to be named.—AFP
