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| Pak volte-face on talks to extract more concession from India | | | Earlier Times Report
Jammu,Feb 9: It is nothing short of a volte-face on the part of Islamabad when it has started saying that it had not "knelt" before India which has now offered to resume the dialogue.In fact the invitation from India's foreign secretary,Nirupama Rao,to her counterpart in Islamabad,Salman Bashir,for talks,anytime between February 18 and 25,set in motion frantic activities in Pakistan's foreign office where the top functionaries discussed the Indian offer for talks.During the discussion the functionaries opposed accepting the offer for talks if they do not lead to the resumption of the composite dialogue.
Since the Mumbai terrorist strike Islamabad has been pleading for the resumption of the composite dialogue.It arrested a number of people,who were directly or indirectly involved in engineering the terrorist strike.At a number of stages Islamabad tried to convince Delhi and Washington that it had initiated measures against the terrorists with the sole purpose of motivating India on the resumption of composite dialogue.On a number of occasions Pakistan's foreign Minister,Shah Mehmood Qureshi,was on record to have said that Islamabad was for the resumption of the composite dialogue and it is the same Qureshi who says" we have not knelt before India" for ensuring the resumption of the composite dialogue.
When the Union Home Minister,P.C.Chidambaram,announced that he would be travelling to Islamabad in connections with the SAARC conference which would later set the stage for the resumption of the bilateral dialogue Islamabad responded to it favourably.And again see the shifting stance of Pakistani establishment.The Foreign Office functionaries in Islamabad have said that "we ought to be careful because engagement with India without prior agreement on the resumption of the composite dialogue would not be to our advantage." Pakistan is of the view that the composite dialogue offered hopes for a meaningful engagement.
A week ago a word had travelled from Islamabad that Pakistan welcomed the Indian offer and Islamabad may dicuss water issue and terrorism,including India's dubious role in Baluchistan.It had indicated that Islamabad may not insist on making the foreign secretary level talks Kashmir centric.Now it wants composite dialogue as it believes that during the composite dialogue the two sides could discuss all the issues,right from Kashmir to Sir Creek,to Siachen to water dispute and terrorism.Against this India believes that since the channels of the bilateral dialogue have been reopened after a gap of over one year it was required to move step by step.However,Islamabad seems to mount pressure on Delhi so that the latter agreed to opt for the resumption of the composite dialogue.
Islamabad has begun adopting belligerent attitude which is evident from the latest reports indicating that Pakistan may not send its foreign secretary to Delhi for talks if India wanted to talk on one-point agenda.Instead Pakistan wants all the issues to be taken up for discussion and hence has been demanding resumption of the composite dialogue.However,reports from across the border said that Islamabad was simply trying to extract more concessions from Delhi by hinting at rejecting offer for talks when in reality it has decided to accept the Indian offer because any rejection,at this juncture,could bring Islamabad under fresh pressure from the American Government.(eom)
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