India urged Pakistan to take urgent steps to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism on the territory under its control.
NEW DELHI: Though India has not so far directly blamed Pakistan for the serial blasts, there is a perceptible hardening of position against Islamabad with indications that the peace process may continue but merely as a formality.
Foreign secretary Shyam Saran told a television channel that the confidence building measurers now in place between India and Pakistan, “may be reviewed.” He did not elaborate and foreign ministry officials had no clue about what he meant.
It appears the Manmohan Singh government has not made up its mind on how to handle Pakistan, especially as it has no clear evidence to link the attack with PoK-based militants. Once there is a concrete proof of either Lashkar-e Toiba or Jaish-e-Mohammed involvement, New Delhi might think differently. But one thing is clear that the foreign secretary level talks slated for July 21 may not be on schedule.
“The process must continue. Even if it leads nowhere, let the default come from Pakistan, we are for peace,” says B G Verghese of the Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research. “India should not be seen as a peace breaker. There will always be spoilers of the peace process and we should not give in to such pressures.’’
Foreign office spokesman Navtej Sarna lashed out at Khursheed Mahmood Kasuri for his remarks following the terror strikes in Mumbai. When both President Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz were among the first world leaders to condemn the attacks, foreign minister Kasuri linked it with India’s reluctance to solve the core issue of Kashmir.
Though this is the standard Pakistan position, the timing of the statement has angered India. “We find it appaling that Kasuri should seek to link this blatant and inhuman act of terror against innocent men, women and children to the so called lack of resolution of disputes between India and Pakistan. His remarks appear to suggest that Pakistan will cooperate with India against the scourge of cross-border terrorism and terrorist violence only if such so called disputes are resolved,’’ Sarna said.
“Terrorism cannot be tolerated on any grounds whatsoever, and no cause justifies the murder of innocent people. We would hope that Pakistan rejects any such linkage and joins hands together with India to defeat the forces of terrorism, based on an ideology of extremism and violence,’’ Sarna added.
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