NEW DELHI – Asking Pakistan to fulfill its assurances of disbanding the terror infrastructure on its soil, India Tuesday said it was willing to go “more than half the way” to hold peace talks with the neighbour but terrorism could “not be shoved” under the carpet. External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, during an interaction with visiting journalists from eastern European countries, said India was “looking forward” to Pakistan addressing its core concern regarding terrorism and tackling the outfits effectively. “If they (Pakistan) can fulfil their assurances (regarding terror outfits), India is willing to go more than half the way to talk to them. We are looking forward to Pakistan being sensitive to our core concern of terrorism and tackling it effectively,” Krishna said in the hour-long meeting at his South Block office here, reported IANS. He recalled Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s repeated call to Pakistan to fulfil assurances on disallowing use of its territory by terror elements for attacking India and dismantling terrorist infrastructure identified by India, proof of which had been shared with other friendly powers. Reiterating that India “wants friendly ties and continues to aspire for civilised” relations with Pakistan, Krishna said, “We want a stable, prosperous and friendly Pakistan as our neighbour”. At the same time, he added, “Terrorism cannot be shoved under the carpet, we have to tackle it”.
