M A I N   N E W S

India for talks with Pak on air links

New Delhi, October 20
India is willing to have a second round of discussions with Pakistan for restoring civil aviation links, provided it came with an “open mind” and looked at “other steps” later, Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal has said.

“We were ready to have civil aviation links, but Pakistan put a spoke in the wheels. We are willing to have the second round provided they come with an open mind,” he said in Karan Thapar’s ‘Court Martial’ programme on Sab TV to be telecast tomorrow.

The first round of talks on this score failed to make any headway after Pakistan sought guarantees from India on the issue of overflight facilities, a demand rejected by India.

“We can later look at other steps,” he said, adding that a lot had happened at people-to-people contacts and on the trade front with exchanges of business delegations.

The government has cleared a proposal by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) to have a ‘Made in Pakistan’ exhibition here, he said.

Asked if Pakistan did not stop cross-border terrorism, would India’s hand of friendship remain suspended in the air, he said, “Our hand of friendship has been extended. It is for Pakistan to grasp it.”

He made it clear that unless Pakistan put an end to cross-border terrorism “we cannot have a sustained dialogue. We cannot really have any enduring relationship”.

Asked whether India was imposing conditions for attending the SAARC Summit in Pakistan in January, Mr Sibal pointed out that this was a multilateral forum.

“When we go — in Islamabad or wherever the SAARC Summit is going to be held — the Heads of Government and Heads of State should have a substantive agenda before them. And this can only be economic. At least they should be able to endorse the framework agreement for South Asia free trade arrangement,” he stressed.

He dismissed a suggestion that Washington was playing a critical role in holding peace between India and Pakistan by playing a facilitator.

“What is holding peace is our sense of responsibility and restraint. America has nothing to do with it. America is a global power. It has interests everywhere, including in South Asia,” he said.

On whether the international community should put more pressure on Pakistan for ending cross-border terrorism since President Pervez Musharraf’s assurances to it on this score had failed to materialise, he said, “International terrorism is a global phenomenon and it is the common concern of the international community.

“If the USA tells Pakistan to stop terrorism, it is not doing a favour to us. It is an integral part of this international combat against global terrorism”.

Describing prevailing situation in Iraq as “more and more complex”, the Foreign Secretary said it was deteriorating. The attacks on UN office had led to demoralisation in UN cadres there.

Asked whether this meant that it was very unlikely that Indian soldiers would be going to Iraq, he said, “Given the present situation and the decision the government has taken, your presumption is not wrong”.

He also spoke of the serious problem posed by terrorists entering the war-ravaged country.

On the Chinese stand on Sikkim, he said, “Sikkim is an integral part of India.... They are on a course of policy correction which is welcome.” — PTI