NEW DELHI, Sept 2: India on Tuesday rejected Pakistan’s charge of stalling peace talks and instead asked Islamabad to shun “terrorism”.

“If our prime minister’s hand is suspended in mid-air, as the Pakistan spokesman claims, it is because Pakistan has so far failed to grasp it,” external affairs spokesman Navtej Sarna told reporters.

He was referring to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s offer of a “hand of friendship” to Pakistan in April this year, which Islamabad said on Monday was “suspended somewhere”.

“Time has come, in Pakistan’s own interest and in the interest of peace, that Pakistan should unclench its fist, wipe its hands clean of the stains of terrorism and firmly grasp the hand of friendship that we have extended. We invite Pakistan to act maturely and invest in the future,” Mr Sarna added.

The newest round of verbal sparring between the two South Asian nuclear rivals followed Pakistan’s call to India on Monday to initiate unconditional dialogue, complaining that a new war of words had stalled the six month-old peace process.

“As for the hand of friendship, I do not think that it has been withdrawn but it is suspended somewhere,” Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan said at weekly briefing.—AFP