The foreign ministers of India and Pakistan on Friday met in Italy, where both are attending the G8 outreach meeting.
The foreign ministers of India and Pakistan on Friday met in Italy, where both are attending the G8 outreach meeting. But the interaction between SM Krishna and Shah Mahmood Qureshi was without the usual hype or drama.
Ahead of the scheduled meeting, neither foreign office gave a hint that a bilateral had been planned. Aware of Pakistan’s strong feelings over prime minister Manmohan Singh’s recent bypassing of diplomatic protocol by raising the issue of terrorism before the media, Krishna, prior to the talks, went out of his way not to ruffle feathers.
But he made it a point to add a rider that improved ties with Islamabad would depend on action taken by Pakistan to prevent its territory to be used for terror strikes against India. “I am glad that this international conference has provided an opportunity for a bilateral meeting with my counterpart from Pakistan,’’ Krishna said after talks with Qureshi.
He said the two had reviewed bilateral ties, adding, “These have remained under considerable stress and the primary cause of this is the terrorist attacks on India by elements based in Pakistan.’’
Islamabad was keen to make the point that it was not pleading for resumption of the composite dialogue and peace would benefit both countries.
“Let me underline that the talks will not be a favour by one country to the other — they are in our mutual interest,’’ Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson Abdul Basit said on Friday.
He told reporters that India’s hesitation to resume talks was incomprehensible, especially when Pakistan was doing its best to cooperate in the Mumbai terror investigations.
But few in India will buy that line as the sense here is that Islamabad has done nothing to boost New Delhi’s confidence. Pakistan is again asking India to provide more details to help its investigations. South Block says it has given enough material to act.
Despite these misgivings, India realises that the US is keen for the two nuclear-armed neighbours to engage and also that its policy of not talking may no longer pay dividends internationally.
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