India expecting no “dramatic” outcome from talks with Pakistan in Thimpu
By ANIFriday, January 28, 2011
NEW DELHI - India is not expecting any dramatic results during its foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan in a meeting in Thimpu, Bhutan, next week.
“Don’t expect anything dramatic from the foreign secretary-level talks. We are just unlocking the process. In Thimpu, we would like to get more clarity on issues. We have put forward some suggestions. Our approach is that we have to talk to each other,” said top official sources.
India has expressed a willingness to discuss all outstanding issues, including prisoners, trade, the Sir Creek and Siachin issues and terrorism.
A meeting between the commerce secretaries of the two countries has also been proposed.
“It will be exploratory mission. All matters will be discussed. e are going with this approach,” the official sources added.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir are scheduled to meet on the margins of the SAARC Foreign Secretaries” meeting that is scheduled to be held in Thimphu on February 6 and 7.
The two sides have exchanged notes though telephonic conversation in the run up to the Thimpu talks.
In these proposals, Pakistan has pushed for a full-fledged revival of the suspended composite dialogue process, and the inclusion of all issues, including Kashmir.
India, on the other hand, is in favour of a step-by-step resumption of the peace process.
According to official sources, New Delhi is ready to share information on 2007 Samjhauta blasts with Pakistan once investigations related to the incident are completed.
Ever since it was revealed that Hindu groups were are behind the blasts near Panipat, Pakistan has evinced keen interest in the ongoing investigations and has even summoned a top Indian diplomat in Islamabad to the Foreign Office to seek details.
It may be recalled that on the night of February 18, 2007, a bomb blast damaged two coaches of the Samjhauta Express as it was traveling past Panipat towards Amritsar en route to the India-Pakistani border. Sixty-eight people were killed, most of them Pakistani citizens.
The proposed visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to India may also be discussed during the foreign secretaries’ meeting, though Qureshi has decided to given the SAARC Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Thimpu a miss.
The foreign secretaries meeting will be the first since the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan met in Islamabad in July last year. (ANI)
