Thaindian News

Pittsburgh, Sep 27 (ANI): Ahead of Indo-Pak Foreign Ministers meeting in New York, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has said India sought to normalize its relationship with Pakistan but the only obstacle is that it should shed its old attitude of using terror as a state policy.

Winding up his two-day trip to Pittsburgh where he attended the G-20 Summit, Dr Singh told reporters that Pakistan should shed its mindset of using terror as an instrument of state policy against India and take action against those involved in the Mumbai terror attacks.

He made it clear that there was no change in India’s stand on Pakistan since the Sharm-el-Sheikh talks with his counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Dr Singh’s comments come as Foreign Ministers of India and Pakistan are set to meet during which Islamabad’s action against terror emanating from its soil will be discussed.

Meanwhile, Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir held talks here on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, marking the first high-level contact between the two countries since the Prime Ministers of the two countries met at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt on July 16.

Both the foreign secretaries discussed the progress made by Pakistan in investigating the Mumbai attacks and prosecuting the perpetrators on the basis of six dossiers of evidence given by India.

India has been pushing Pakistan to act fast and in a transparent manner to ensure that those behind the attacks are brought to justice. Dismayed by Pakistan’s double speak and its refusal to accept the evidence provided by India in the sixth dossier, sources said: “‘It is up to Pakistan to decide what relation they want with India.” (ANI)