The unexpected confession of Ajmal Kasab this week, which detailed training camps and safe houses across Pakistan, bolsters Indias charges that Islamabad is not doing enough to clamp down on terrorist groups.
The three-day siege of Indias financial capital in November left 166 dead and severely strained relations between the nuclear-armed enemies. Peace talks that began in 2004 were put on hold.
Certainly that was a hiccup, said Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi of the Mumbai attacks. We are overcoming that because both sides believe this is a common challenge. The only way forward is engagement with each other. So I think we will be back on track soon.
India appears more cautious. After meeting Pakistans president last month, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said India was again ready to talk peace but cautioned that relations remain under considerable stress and progress would be slow, with each step forward dependent on Islamabads willingness to take on anti-India militants.
Qureshi told The Associated Press that Islamabad was waiting for copies of the gunmans confessions from the Indian court but said the issue would not impede the dialogue effort.
Qureshi spoke on the sidelines of the annual ASEAN Regional Forum, a gathering of ministers and senior officials from Asia, Europe, the United States and Russia.
Washington is represented by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who arrived in Thailand after high-level talks in India, during which the two nations agreed to expand US defense and civilian nuclear sales.
Qureshi said Pakistan was not concerned about closer ties between Washington and Delhi.
We have a very independent relationship with the United States. If India gets closer to the United States it will not affect us because we have been allies for 60 years. India is shifting its policy. Pakistan has been consistent, he said.
He praised the new US administrations policy on regionalizing the fight against terrorism and its recognition that this fight had more dimensions than merely a military one.
Qureshi said his countrys recent operation against Islamic militants in the Swat Valley was a major success because it had behind it a national consensus to fight terrorism and political-military cooperation that had not earlier existed.
He said between 1,500 and 1,700 militants were killed and their second and third-tier leadership was wiped out in the Swat Valley, casualty figures that have not been confirmed independently.
Obviously there are some big names (left) and we are trying to reach them. I hope we will be successful, he said of Pakistans efforts to track down top Taliban and al-Qaida leaders hiding out along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Qureshi said he hoped the Phuket conference would recognize Pakistans sacrifice in fighting the militants and provide greater help in aiding internal refugees spawned by the recent fighting.
The UN says about 2 million people have been displaced by the Swat fighting.
We are not just fighting for ourselves. We fight for the democratic world. We are fighting for people who subscribe to our values, Qureshi said. -AP
