Indo-Pak talks outcome more than expected: Qureshi

Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Apr 30 (PTI) The outcome of the latest
talks between the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan was
better than expected though more efforts will have to be made
to bridge the trust deficit between the two sides, Pakistan
Foreign Ministry Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Friday.
A day after India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met
his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in Thimphu and
broke the ice, Qureshi said he intended to contact India's
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna as soon as the Indian
parliament's budget session ends on May 7 to decide on dates
for a meeting to "take things forward".
Referring to the outcome of the meeting between Singh
and Gilani, Qureshi said the progress made by the two sides
was "better than the expectations...It is a step in the right
direction, it is a concrete development and we will build on
it".
Qureshi told a news conference in the Foreign Office
that there was "no doubt" about the trust deficit between the
two countries and "we have to bridge it through confidence-
building measures".
Acknowledging that this trust deficit cannot be
bridged "overnight" or "in one sitting", he said: "We have to
be realistic and pragmatic. It is a process. If we allow the
process to continue, obviously with the passage of time, the
deficit will be narrowed down."
Qureshi said the two Foreign Ministers had been
entrusted the task of reducing the trust deficit and that he
had "certain ideas" to narrow the gap which he would share
with his Indian counterpart at the appropriate time.
The Foreign Minister also noted that even Indian
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao was "very positive" about the
outcome of the talks during her news conference Thursday.
Asked if the format for dialogue between India and
Pakistan would be changed, he said there was "no difficulty"
over the nomenclature for talks to be held in future as the
two sides intended to discuss all outstanding issues,
including the Kashmir dispute, Siachen, Sir Creek, sharing of
river waters, trade and people-to-people contacts.
"If all issues are being discussed, call it
comprehensive dialogue or call it composite dialogue or call
it what you may. It is the spirit behind the dialogue that
counts. I can share with you that the spirit was right," he
said.
Foreign Secretary Rao had Thursday said that
nomenclatures were not important. (MORE) PTI RHL
MRD


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