Maintaining that the situation was not ripe for resumption of composite dialogue, Nirupama Rao said India wants action against the perpetrators of terror infrastructure in Pakistan.
Foreign secretary Nirupama Rao sent out mixed signals on Thursday about a possible bilateral meeting between prime minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani when both leaders travel to Bhutan for a summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) next week.
Rao made it clear that no meeting has been fixed. But she did not rule it out completely. “India believes that dialogue is the only way forward,” she said.
Repeatedly questioned by reporters at a briefing on the Saarc summit, an exasperated foreign secretary said: “I really don’t want to forecast what is going to happen.
But let me say, dialogue is always useful. It helps in clearing the atmosphere.” She admitted that there has been no forward movement since her talks with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir in New Delhi on February 25.
The meeting had failed to yield any result. India had given another dossier to Bashir. Pakistan has not got back on that so far. Nor has Rao met Bashir again.
“The situation has not changed. There has been no movement on the Mumbai terror trial. Infiltration has gone up. It’s a matter of grave concern for us,” Rao said.
After their talks in Delhi, Bashir did not invite Rao to Pakistan. The neighbour was interested to have talks at the foreign ministers level.
Islamabad had earlier continuously harped on resuming the composite dialogue process, but it has now hardened its position. Rao confirmed that Pakistan has so far not talked about a possible meeting between the two prime ministers, the foreign ministers or the foreign secretaries ahead of the Saarc meet in Thimpu.
Singh and Gilani were in Washington for the nuclear security summit earlier this month. But there was no bilateral meeting or any warmth in their greetings.
Many feel Bhutan is the right place for an India-Pakistan dialogue. The establishment, however, is divided. Another impromptu meet may lead to nothing. It may even take the entire focus of Saarc away from Bhutan to an Indo-Pak tangle.
This is the first time that Bhutan is holding a Saarc summit. India being a close ally of Thimphu, does not want to steal the thunder.
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