Thaindian News

New Delhi, Feb 25 (IANS) India and Pakistan Thursday began their first official talks since the Mumbai attack 14 months ago amid cautious optimism here that Islamabad will move faster against anti-India terror outfits and 26/11 attackers to keep the dialogue open.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao greeted her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir at the Hyderabad House as the two top diplomats sat down for closed door one-on-one talks, aimed at breaking the post-Mumbai deadlock in bilateral ties.

“We look forward to our talks,” Rao told reporters.

“Hyderabad House is a familiar venue. We look forward to a very good constructive arrangement,” a smiling Bashir added before going inside for the talks.

The interaction between Rao and Bashir was followed by delegation-level talks, which are expected to last for at least two hours. No joint statement is expected at the end of the talks.

Setting a positive tone, the two sides have made it clear that although they have their differing core concerns, they are going into these crucial talks with “an open mind”.

For India, the core concern is terrorism and the alleged use of Pakistani territory by anti-India terror outfits, but it is willing to discuss other issues. Pakistan has made it clear that it will focus on the Kashmir dispute and issues like sharing of river waters.

Kashmir is on the agenda, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Abdul Basit told a TV channel an hour before the talks began.

Pakistan is likely to rake up allegations of the alleged complicity of India in the insurgency in Balochistan.

The Indian side is likely to highlight renewed anti-India activities of Hafiz Saeed, founder of the Jamaat-ud Dawa and the suspected mastermind of the Mumbai carnage who has stepped up his anti-India rhetoric since the announcement of talks early this month.

India has limited expectations from talks and would like Islamabad to give a fresh commitment to curb anti-India outfits and bring the perpetrators of 26/11 carnage to justice expeditiously, said government sources.

The outcome of the talks is expected to determine the future trajectory of engagement between the two neighbours.

A positive outcome could set the stage for summit-level talks between leaders of the two countries on the sidelines of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Thimpu in April and brighten the possibilities of resumption of a broader dialogue.

Ahead of the talks, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Wednesday put its concerns over terrorism at the heart of re-engagement with Pakistan and stressed that the future of engagement will depend upon “an environment free of terror or threat of terror”.

“We are going into talks with an open mind, but are fully conscious of the limitations imposed by the trust deficit, post Mumbai,” said s government source.