news details |
|
|
| Delhi needs to clear its stand on J&K | | IFO On Indo-Pak Peace Talks -- I | |
RUSTAM
JAMMU, Apr 15: In an interview to the American journal "The Wall Street Journal", which was published only the other day, Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said that "India is willing to advance its peace talks with Pakistan and discuss the Kashmir issue, but the main stumbling block is Islamabad's failure to clamp down on militant" and that "Pakistan's recent moves, including an agreement to open its markets to Indian goods, was a signal that it was serious about improving ties with India". Besides, he questioned the attitude of Islamabad and the Pakistani army towards extremists, including the founder of dreaded Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JUD) chief Hafiz Saeed, and urged the Pakistani establishment to take a credible action against them so that New Delhi is able to "advance peace talks" with Islamabad.
"Pakistan needs to take serious action against militants using its soil to attack India…It is deeply troubling to India that LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, is able to address public gatherings and appear on television in Pakistan. 'If the (Pakistani) Army don't want Hafiz on TV issuing threats to one and all, they'd be able to do something'. Pakistan's failure to clamp down on militant groups that have attacked India is the major roadblock to peace talks…The US decision to put a USD 10 million bounty on Saeed shows that Washington has come around to India's view about the high level of threat from Pakistan-based militant groups.
It does demonstrate that much of what concerns us is a broader international concern," he said.
At the same time, Mathai spoke very high of Pakistan and told "The Wall Street Journal" that Pakistan's recent moves indicate its willingness to "improve bilateral ties, including those on trade". "I wouldn't have been as optimistic six months ago," he said, reflecting on the prospects for the latest round of peace talks, which began a year ago. "The fact that the (Pakistan) government is able to move on the trade track shows there's a greater willingness to take things forward by all the players," Mathai, in effect, said.
Mathai, in addition, shared the views of the Government of India on Jammu and Kashmir with "The Wall Street Journal" - views which do create serious doubts in the minds of the Indians about the intentions of the Congress-dominated UPA Government as far as the political future of this border state of India is concerned. What did he tell the international journal? He, among other things, reportedly said: "As the talks with Pakistan develop, India would consider reopening a serious discussion on Kashmir. India 'would be happy' to start talks toward a deal to keep Kashmir's borders as they are but allow greater trade and movement of people across the Line of Control". "The Wall Street Journal" also quoted Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit as saying that "while there has been progress in the 'tone and tenor' of the discussions, Pakistan believed that 'unless the Jammu and Kashmir issue is resolved, we cannot expect lasting peace' in South Asia".
The Indian Foreign Secretary did not stop here. He went on to tell the American journal that there had been "back channel talks between India and Pakistan" and they made progress" and added that "India believes it is now 'up to the Pakistanis to decide how to proceed' on peace talks with India…India is looking for 'something solid' to announce before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits Pakistan". Our Prime Minister on April 8 accepted the invitation of President Asif Ali Zardari to visit Pakistan when the latter visited New Delhi and Ajmer. (To be continued) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
