NEW DELHI, Jan 26: A day after it test-fired a nuclear missile that could eventually be used to target Pakistan, New Delhi on Saturday revived its conditional offer to resume talks with Islamabad, and analysts said the Agni II experiment was not aimed at mounting pressure on Pakistan but was, in fact, delayed to allow for military tensions to ease somewhat.

The Star News channel quoted External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh as saying in an interview with a Russian paper that Delhi was willing to walk more than half the distance to hold talks with Pakistan, provided its frequently voiced key concerns were first addressed.

The Hindu newspaper, usually clued in, quoted highly-placed government sources as saying that Friday’s test of the 700-km range Agni II “is part of a programme to develop a new missile system and is not aimed at increasing the current military pressure on Pakistan.”

The newspaper said the testing of the missile system, originally scheduled for mid-December, was postponed after the attack on Parliament House last month. It said a test in December would only have added to the rising military standoff with Pakistan. “The government decided it was prudent to delay it than go ahead with the original schedule.”

The report also appears to set the tone for a likely meeting in Munich early next month between India’s National Security Council head Brajesh Mishra and Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar. An Indian foreign ministry spokeswoman would only confirm that Mr Mishra was travelling to Munich but declined to say whether or not he would hold talks with Mr Sattar. Mr Singh was quoted as indicating that India was ready, albeit conditionally, to revive talks with Pakistan.

“Should Pakistan renounce the path of terrorism which President Musharraf has pledged to do in his address of January 12, and through concrete actions, we will meet Pakistan more than half way,” he told an interview published in Izvestia on Saturday. The Hindu report appeared to be an effort to allay fears in Islamabad of any other misgivings linked with Friday’s missile test.

To avoid any misperception in Islamabad that the test was part of the current Indian military pressure on Pakistan, the government had informed the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi about it earlier this week, according to the paper.

“The sources say it is part of an effort to maintain transparency in missile testing and is in consonance with the spirit of the agreements signed during the prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee’s visit to Lahore in February 1999,” it said, pointing to a significant trust appears to be holding between the two.

In a MoU signed at Lahore, India and Pakistan had agreed to negotiate a number of confidence-building measures in the nuclear and conventional military arena. One of the proposed agreements was on prior notification of missile testing and not to direct missiles in each other’s direction.