NEW DELHI: Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj told parliament here on Monday that an uninterrupted dialogue was needed with Pakistan despite provocation by saboteurs and denied opposition charges that her government had staged a “clumsy climbdown” from its hardline position that stalled progress.

Press Trust of India quoted Ms Swaraj as denying any “flip flop” by her government in ties with Pakistan as she asserted that the decision to restart the talks was based on ‘trust’. PTI said she clarified that the intent would be to have an ‘uninterrupted’ dialogue process despite provocations by the ‘saboteurs’, an apparent reference to terrorist groups.

The description of uninterrupted dialogue appeared to fall short of ‘irreversible’, a phrase agreed by the Manmohan Singh government.

Ms Swaraj, while briefing parliament on her recent visit to Pakistan, justified the decision to have a ‘Comprehensive Dialogue’, saying there was a “need for bridging the gulf” with Islamabad for peace and stability in the region.

Indian minister denies ‘clumsy climbdown’ from hardline stance

Answering critics, she said in the latest arrangement, the level of talks on terror has been raised to be dealt with by the national security advisers (NSAs) instead of foreign secretaries as earlier envisaged.

The fact that NSAs of Pakistan and India met in Bangkok without any publicity does not mean any third country’s involvement and it was only to take forward the Ufa process that could not take place in Delhi as “you all know”, she told the Lok Sabha.

Ms Swaraj sought the support of parliament for the latest initiative with Pakistan and made suo motu statements in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. She answered questions posed by members in the Lower House. A typical question was whether Pakistan could be trusted particularly since previous efforts at talks were accompanied by alleged attacks from Pakistan.

She was asked what had changed since September when NSA talks could not take place after Pakistan insisted that Kashmir should be discussed at the meeting.

“Nothing has changed on the ground. Because we had said that terror and talks cannot go together. So at Ufa, we said that NSAs will talk on terrorism.”

Saying the “only way forward is through dialogue”, she claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi had initiated the efforts to reach out to Pakistan not in Ufa but even before he took oath on May 26 last year.

To demands by some members for assurance that the dialogue process will be ‘uninterruptable’, she said: “It never works like that. We would like not to get provoked by the saboteurs, who want to stall the dialogue somehow, and will try to find a way forward through the dialogue. This will be our intent.”

When some members alleged ‘flip flop’ in the policy, she said it was not the “correct definition” as stopping and restarting a dialogue process was a “part of diplomacy”.

“Starting talks, stopping and then again starting does not mean flip flop... It is not the correct definition. It is part of diplomacy that talks happen, then stop and then happen again,” Ms Swaraj said.

“Talks have started in a very good atmosphere. If India-Pakistan relations improve, there will be improvement in the region,” she said.

She rejected the contention of a deputy that the government had made a “clumsy climbdown” even though he welcomed the restarting of the dialogue. As per the commitment in Ufa that NSA-level talks would have to take place first, “NSA-level talks happened first and then I went to Islamabad”.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2015