NEW DELHI Good chemistry and a nagging trust deficit defined the globally watched crucial meeting of the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan here on Thursday, but they promised to stay in touch to explore ways to revive a stymied peace agenda.
Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir has invited India's Nirupama Rao to visit Islamabad, thus keeping the door open for a high-level engagement between the two.
If the basic script is followed, they could clear the way for a possible meeting of the prime ministers in Bhutan in April during the next Saarc summit. The revival of talks has been criticised by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.
Ms Rao appeared to ignore the criticism. “My invitation to the Pakistan foreign secretary was in keeping with the government of India's firm conviction that we must not shut the door on dialogue with Pakistan, and that such dialogue, if it gathers momentum, holds tremendous potential for the progress and well-being of the people of our region,” she asserted after meeting Mr Bashir at the Hyderabad House.
She lauded the sincere and genuine efforts the two countries have made to resolve their disputes although they were repeatedly thwarted by acts of terrorism, culminating in the barbaric attack in Mumbai.
“The Mumbai attack erased the trust and confidence that the two countries had painstakingly built during the period 2004-07. The recent Pune attack, which is still under investigation, is yet another reminder that our citizens remain vulnerable to terrorist violence.”
Mr Bashir was given three dossiers, one of them relating to alleged Mumbai plotters. The other two pertained to individuals and fugitives apparently working against India, and who Delhi believes are being sheltered in Pakistan.
“I stressed the importance of expeditious action by Pakistan on these issues, including by following up on the leads that have emerged following the arrest in the United States of David Coleman Headley and Tahawuur Hussain Rana,” Ms Rao said.
She told Mr Bashir that the Mumbai attack was a symptom of a larger problem — that of the continued existence and unhindered activities of organisations, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba/ Jamaatud Dawa, Hizbul Mujahideen, etc. from Pakistani territory and territory under Pakistan's control to perpetrate terrorist violence against India.
'Piece of literature'
Addressing a separate press conference at the Pakisan High Commission, Mr Bashir described some of the contents of a previous dossier as a piece of literature that had little by way of evidence against the purported alleged culprit.
He stressed that Pakistan did not need to be lectured to on issues of terrorism as it was fighting the scourge at home, in its own national interest and for the international community.
“We went into today's talks with an open mind, but fully conscious of the limitations imposed by the large trust deficit between the two countries,” Ms Rao said.
“In line with our graduated and step by step approach, our aims were modest; we had a useful discussion, during which I spelt out forthrightly our concerns on terrorism emanating from Pakistan against India.”
She said the issue of Kashmir was discussed briefly.
Mr Bashir said it was a core issue and an international one at that, with implications for human rights and the destiny of the Kashmiri people that could not be trivialised.
“I told the Pakistan Foreign Secretary that we have all along believed in the approach to resolve all outstanding issues between the two countries through bilateral dialogue in an atmosphere free of terror and violence. If we are to build upon the past discussions at an appropriate time, trust and confidence between us must be restored,” Ms Rao said. But she added that the talks had been useful amid good chemistry and transparency from both sides.
