Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi today said his country wants all bilateral issues, including Kashmir, to be discussed in Thursday's talks.
India and Pakistan have differing agendas for the foreign secretary-level talks on Thursday with New Delhi maintaining that its focus would be on terror and the other side cautioning that such a "narrow agenda" would not yield much progress.
Pakistan foreign secretary Salman Bashir, along with a five-member delegation, will reach New Delhi tomorrow for talks with his Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao, the first formal bilateral talks in 14 months after the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008.
Clearly giving the Indian perspective, Rao has said the focus of the talks would be on India's "core concerns" over cross-border terrorism.
Terming the proposal of talks from India as "another sincere attempt" to initiate dialogue with Pakistan, Rao said "we hope we can build, in a graduated manner, better communication and a serious and responsive dialogue to address issues of concern between our two countries."
However, in Beijing, Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi today said his country wants all bilateral issues, including Kashmir, to be discussed in Thursday's talks.
He said much progress would not be made if India restricts the dialogue to a "narrow agenda" of terrorism. "We seek peaceful settlement of all outstanding disputes, including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir with India...If India restricts the agenda or tries to narrow it down to its own immediate needs, then much progress will not be reached," Qureshi said.
On whether Kashmir will figure during the talks, Rao has said "the issue of Jammu and Kashmir is something we must discuss bilaterally and resolve peacefully. But at the talks, our core concern is terrorism and it is essential to focus on it. We will move in a manner, slow and deliberately."
While making the offer of talks, India had made it clear that composite dialogue could not be resumed until "the environment of terror or the threat of terror" persisted.
The composite dialogue was suspended after the terror attacks in Mumbai in 2008 with India pressing for punishment to perpetrators of the attacks and dismantling of terror infrastructure in Pakistan.
Describing terrorism as the pivotal security challenge for the country, Rao said terror groups implacably opposed to India continue to recruit, train and plot attacks "from safe havens across our borders.
The Pakistan delegation will include its foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit and was expected to hold informal meetings with some separatist leaders from the valley.
Both sides would hold separate press conferences after the talks as there was no indication of a joint media interaction so far.
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