New Delhi, Aug 4 (IANS) More than a fortnight after the foreign minister-level talks, India Wednesday told Pakistan that another terrorist attack on its territory from Pakistani soil will cause ‘immense harm’ to ties and asked it to take credible action against Hafiz Saeed, the suspected 26/11 mastermind.
External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna told parliament that he conveyed to his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad July 15 that ‘any further terrorist attack on India emanating from Pakistani soil would cause immense harm to the normalisation process’.
Krishna added that he called for ‘credible and firm action against terrorist groups and their leaders, like the Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, who continues to incite violence against India’.
The minister said that he told the Pakistani side to fulfil the solemn commitment of not allowing territory under Pakistan’s control to be used for any terrorist activity directed against India and stressed that it will be the biggest confidence building measure between the two countries.
In a bid to defuse widespread perception that the talks were a diplomatic disaster, Krishna informed the Lok Sabha that the detailed and frank discussions held during the visit enabled both sides to develop a better understanding of each other’s position and point of view on various issues.
Despite differences of opinion on the way forward on a number of issues, Krishna said the two sides developed a broad understanding on a number of other issues.
Stressing India’s ‘step-by-step, graduated and calibrated approach towards engagement with Pakistan, Krishna said India was willing to have further interaction on pressing humanitarian issues like early release and repatriation of fishermen in jails, promotion of trade and commerce and streamlining of confidence building measures across the Line of Control and greater people-to-people exchanges.
The talks between Krishna and Qureshi July 15 ended in a deadlock, with India stressing the centrality of terror and Pakistan demanding a timeline for resolving complex issues like Jammu and Kashmir, Siachen and Sir Creek.
