Unless Pak stops terrorism, talks will have limits: Menon

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Oct 1 (PTI) New Delhi is ready to discuss
all the issues with Pakistan, including Kashmir, but there
will be limit to such dialogue as long as India faces
terrorism from across the border, National Security Advisor
Shivshankar Menon has said.
"On Kashmir, we have made it quite clear we are
willing to discuss all issues with Pakistan. But we also made
it clear that as long as we face terrorist attacks from
Pakistan, there will be limits on how far this dialogue would
proceed," he said in response to a question at the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace - a Washington-based
think-tank.
No democratic government in India, Menon observed, can
be "so insensitive" to what is going on about the popular
opinion in India and decides somehow to settle issues without
there being a larger resolution and improvement in
relationship.
"Today, we are in a stage where we are trying to
restore the dialogue. We are trying to see whether we can get
the dialogue going.
"But quite frankly when it comes to linking that
(Kashmir issue) to the existence of jehadi terrorism in
Pakistan, I do not see the link," he said.
India had bitter experiences with Pakistan in the past
in this regard, he said.
"If you look at it at slightly longer period when we
were actually engaged in full fledged composite dialogue with
Pakistan between 2005 and 2007 and were making considerable
progress on issues that divided us.
"(But) They did not seem to stop terrorism or the
terrorists. They might use it as a pretext," he argued. PTI
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