India has said it was good that the US recognised the link between the Haqqani network and the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI, both of which have been blamed for the assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani.
“We have always been saying it. I am glad US also found it after suffering from ISI covert operations” External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said in New York on Sunday. The two countries will discuss their bilateral relationship when Krishna meets Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday. Krishna said it was fine to differ with the US on issues like Syria and Libya, noting that bilateral relations depended on entirely different set of conditions.
“We don’t have to agree on everything,” he said. Referring to support of nations like China in India’s bid for permanent membership of the Security Council, Krishna said “this is a question which India is very serious about.” He noted restructuring the UNSC will be a long and arduous journey. “But India believes that ultimately it will find its rightful place in the Security Council,” he added.
Krishna met the Indian Ambassador and its Consul Generals in the country and discussed ways to improve the consular services and deal with public grievances. Meanwhile, with the meeting between PM Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama cancelled, a meeting is being arranged between External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in New York on Monday.
“We are planning a meeting between Secretary of State and External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Monday subject to confirmation,” Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai told reporters on Saturday. To a question whether there was growing distrust between India and the US in the context of a meeting not taking place between Obama and Singh, Mathai said the Prime Minister had arrived in New York after Obama had left and that was why a bilateral meeting was not possible.
However, he noted that the two leaders could meet in the upcoming G-20 Summit in France in November.
