Indo-Pak talks shouldn't be judged as '2+2=4', Malik tweets

Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Jul 18 (PTI) With India and Pakistan engaging
in war of words post-July 15 parleys between their Foreign
Ministers, Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik Sunday
tweeted that the talks should not be judged "mathematically
like 2+2=4" but should be seen as a "positive step".
"It is time for exchange of hearts. Let us sow seeds of
love and peace, so that future generations have only the
option to reap love, and noting but love....Let us save our
future generations from the disease of hate and terrorism,"
Malik, who has nearly 3,500 followers, said in his latest
Twitter posting.
His soothing comments came amid exchange of barbs between
India's External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his
Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi following their
meeting here on Thursday last.
Malik, who had a meeting with Home Minister P Chidambaram
on the margins of the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC) Interior Ministers' conference here last
month, said that they both "will move forward in terms of
delivery of commitments based on what we agreed."
"The roadmap of commitment and performance between me and
H.E Mr Chidambaram is fully intact," he said in his message
posted on the social networking website.
"Pak-India talks should not be judged mathematically like
2+2=4 but be assessed with past political and diplomatic rival
history of two countries in view," Malik said.
He said: "We should be happy that Pakistan and India are
now at least interacting on the core issues. Hence meeting
between the two FMs should be viewed as a positive step."
Separately, Malik told reporters at the Interior
Ministry Saturday that a roadmap prepared by him and
Chidambaram was still intact and "good results" were expected
soon.
Referring to his June 25 talks with Chidambaram, Malik
said: "I and Chidambaram sahab met, we have agreed (on) a
roadmap and that roadmap is intact. We don't like terrorism.
(We) will not allow anyone to use Pakistani soil against any
other country."
He said the roadmap finalised by him and Chidambaram is
expected to produce "good results" soon but did not give
details.

Responding to several questions on Pakistan's probe into
the Mumbai attacks, Malik said Islamabad has requested New
Delhi to send the magistrates and police officer who recorded
Ajmal Kasab's statement so that they can testify in the
anti-terrorism court that is conducting the trial of Pakistani
suspects.
These Indian officials "must come and appear before the
(Pakistani) court and testify that Ajmal Kasab had (made) a
statement before them," he said.
"Once they testify before our court, automatically the
trial will be put on fast track," he said.
Malik pointed out that Kasab's statement to Indian
authorities was the basis of the First Information Report
filed by Pakistani investigators.
Pakistani prosecutors are facing problems because the
country's courts have refused to declare Kasab as a
"proclaimed offender" or fugitive for the purpose of the trial
in Pakistan, Malik said.
A special court in Mumbai recently convicted Kasab for
his role in the 2008 attacks and sentenced him to death.
Malik also said an investigation is underway on
information provided by Pakistani-American David Headley, who
is in custody in the US and has been charged with facilitating
the Lashker-e-Taiba in carrying out the Mumbai attacks.
Referring to the dialogue between the Foreign Ministers
of India and Pakistan, Malik told the reporters that this is
"a continuous process that will yield positive results."
Pakistan has made India aware of its concerns during the
recent talks and "all issues will gradually settle in coming
days," he said. PTI RHL
MRD