Going to Pakistan with ‘serious intent’ to discuss militancy: Krishna

As Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Tuesday said the visa agreement between Pakistan and India will be finalized on Indian External Affairs Minister SM Krishna’s visit to Pakistan, while Krishna said he was going to Pakistan with “greater optimism”, carrying a message of India’s ”serious intent” to resolve outstanding bilateral issues through dialogue in a “terror and violence”-free atmosphere. Krishna also noted that there was a “huge difference” in the bilateral relations between now and two years back when his visit had created “certain positive vibe” but there were some ”questions which remained unanswered”.
“I will take with me the message of serious intent of the government and people of India to resolve outstanding issues between India and Pakistan through dialogue in an atmosphere free from terror and violence,” he said when asked about his expectation from the visit. The minister also noted that the recent meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Tehran, has “created right kind of backdrop”. Though Krishna refused to “prejudge” the outcome, he said his visit was “one more step” in the “step-by-step approach” agreed by the two countries to normalize the ties. This will be the second visit of Krishna to Pakistan since 2010. He will review the last round of the talks when he holds parleys with his counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar on September 8 which will be preceded by a meeting of the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries on September 7. The two ministers will also co-chair a meeting of the India-Pakistan Joint Commission. The Commission was revived in 2005 after a gap of 16 years and it held meetings in 2006 and 2007. In Islamabad, Malik said relations between Pakistan and India were improving according to the wishes of the people of both the neighboring states.