ISLAMABAD – In its proposals sent to India before the forthcoming foreign secretaries’ meeting in Bhutan, Pakistan has urged India to resume negotiations on all outstanding issues rather than confining the dialogue to terrorism alone.
“Pakistan wants the resumption of composite dialogue as was the case before November 2008 when the Indo-Pak talks came to a halt after the terrorist attack on Mumbai. This was conveyed to New Delhi formally in a set of proposals handed over through the diplomatic channels in Islamabad on Saturday,” a Foreign Office official said on Sunday.
The proposals sent to New Delhi before the foreign secretaries’ meeting scheduled for February 6 to 7 in Thimphu on the sidelines of a SAARC meeting are also meant to pave the way for a conclusive meeting between the two top diplomats that will help revive the stalled peace process.
“India has been plainly told that if it were not for the revival of composite dialogue, which means talks on Kashmir, peace and security and all other issues such as Siachen and Sir Creek then there is no use to hold the negotiations at all,” the official said.
He said Islamabad and New Delhi had been in touch through the diplomatic channels even after the inconclusive talks between the two foreign ministers in Islamabad back in July 2010. “Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir has met Indian diplomats based in Islamabad including the high commissioner of India, Sharat Sabharwal, many a time after July 2010. In addition to that a former Pakistani diplomat is also seeing the Indian officials as a part of back channel diplomacy,” he said. However, he declined to name the former Pakistani diplomat.
He said in response to India’s invitation to Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi for a visit to New Delhi, Islamabad had proposed that India should extend assurance that the talks in future would not only be fruitful but also not be derailed by any act of terror after which the foreign minister could go for a trip to the neighboring country.
“The month proposed by Islamabad for the visit of the foreign minister to New Delhi is March 2011 if India is ready to extend this assurance,” he said. Another Pakistani official when contacted said contrary to Pakistan’s strong desire for the revival of composite dialogue under which talks would be held on all bilateral issues, India wanted resumption of talks in phases and to begin with, it is for negotiations on the menace of terror.
