India, Pak exchange proposals on variety of issues

Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Jun 24 (PTI) In an effort to bridge the
trust deficit, India and Pakistan Thursday exchanged proposals
on a wide variety of issues bedevilling bilateral ties,
including terrorism, humanitarian matters and Jammu and
Kashmir.
In a change from the acrimony that has marked their
relations since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, the Foreign
Secretaries of the two countries -- India's Nirupama Rao and
Pakistan's Salman Bashir -- held "cordial and constructive"
parleys here in a bid to "understand each other's position and
concerns."
Rao, the first senior Indian official to travel to
Pakistan after the 26/11 attacks, said at a joint press
briefing, "We discussed all issues, obviously our core
concerns on terrorism were also articulated."
Sources said that proposals and specific ideas on
various issues were exchanged during the meeting. India's
focus was on terrorism and humanitarian issues.
Pakistani sources said they had also discussed ideas
relating to Kashmir.
These proposals will be taken back to the political
leadership of the two countries so that they can be firmed up
and "form the substantial part of the outcome" of the meeting
of the Foreign Ministers scheduled to be held in Islamabad on
July 15, the sources said.
However, they did not provide specifics of the
proposals offered by both sides but indicated that the talks
had gone "very well" and that the Pakistani side listened to
India's concerns without dismissing them out of hand.
During the talks, the Indian side raised the "core
concern of terrorism", including the activities of the
Lashker-e-Taiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawah as well as the founder of
both groups, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed.
The Indian side noted that Saeed's "virulently
anti-India rhetoric" was not conducive to peace and that
Pakistan needs to "at least stop such propaganda", the sources
said.
The Indian side also sought to address Pakistan's
concerns about the Indian presence in Afghanistan, saying that
the only role being played by New Delhi in that country was
developmental in nature.
The sources said the Indian side also made it clear
that attacks on Indian assets in Afghanistan could not be
"allowed to continue" as it affected relations between New
Delhi and Islamabad and created "bad blood and suspicions".
The sources said the ongoing re-engagement process
could succeed if it started with the "achievable", including
release of prisoners, trade and cross-Line of Control
confidence-building measures. (More) PTI RHL
RDM


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