Thaindian News

Sharm el-Sheikh, July 16 (IANS) Nearly eight months after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, India and Pakistan Thursday sought to put their strained ties back on track by delinking action on terror from the composite dialogue process.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani met in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm-el-Sheikh Thursday. The meeting lasted for nearly two hours.

The talks focused on terrorism - a key issue that has bedevilled the ties between the two nuclear-armed neighbours and brought their composite dialogue to a halt after the Nov 26, 2008, terror attacks in Mumbai in which Pakistani nationals were involved.

A decision on resuming the structured composite dialogue was, however, put off with the joint statement saying that foreign secretaries of the two countries will meet “as often as necessary” before the two foreign ministers meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in September.

This effectively means that a decision on resuming composite dialogue has now been deferred by at least two months and will depend on the action taken by Pakistan to address India’s concerns over terrorism.

The statement underlined that India and Pakistan recognised terrorism as the main threat affecting the two countries and the need for greater cooperation between them to combat the threat.

“Both leaders agreed that terrorism is the main threat to both countries. Both leaders affirmed their resolve to fight terrorism and to cooperate with each other to this end,” the joint statement said.

“Both leaders agreed that the two countries will share real time, credible and actionable information on any future terrorist threats,” he said.

In a clear sign of thaw and a desire by both countries to continue engagement, the statement said: “Both prime ministers recognized that dialogue is the only way forward,” the statement said.

In a seeming departure from the stated Indian position linking dialogue with Pakistan’s action on dismantling anti-India terror infrastructure, the joint statement said: “Action on terrorism should not be linked to the Composite Dialogue process and these should not be bracketed.”

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that “India was ready to discuss all issues with Pakistan, including all outstanding issues,” the statement said, indicating India’s willingness to continue engaging its estranged neighbour.

Manmohan Singh “reiterated the need to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice,” the statement said. Gilani assured that Pakistan “will do everything in its power in this regard.”

Manmohan Singh said an updated status dossier on the investigations of the Mumbai attacks given by Pakistan a couple of days ago is being reviewed.