New York, September 28
Rejecting Pakistan’s demand for going beyond the issue of terror, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna today said the least India expected from that country was “tangible results” in the Mumbai attacks probe which would help build an atmosphere for purposeful talks.

The minister said India has not set a “benchmark” for Pakistan but expected it to deliver tangible results in the investigations and prosecutions.

“We have suggested to the Government of Pakistan that the perpetrators of that attack on Mumbai must be brought to justice within the framework of the Pakistan law,” Krishna said.

“That is the least that we expect from them,” said the minister who had a two-hour long meeting here on Sunday with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi, during which he focused on the terror issue.

Krishna said that further talks between the two countries would depend on concrete action taken by Islamabad on the Mumbai attacks, particularly in the upcoming trial of the accused.

Qureshi had yesterday said the two countries could not confine discussions to only terror or Mumbai without touching on other outstanding issues that form the Composite Dialogue.

“You need an atmosphere for talks to be purposeful,” Krishna said on being asked whether the dialogue process would restart only when India saw credible action being taken by Pakistan against the perpetrators.

“Well, that has always been India’s position and I think very rightly so. I think that is a sensisble approach”, Krishna said. Both at the Foreign Secretary-level as also at the Krishna-Qureshi meetings here, the focus was on dealing with the terror issue and the Mumbai attacks probe.

Krishna said during his meeting with Qureshi, the entire time was spent discussing terror and how India has been been a victim of terror strikes, the last big one being 26/11.

India blames Pakistan for not speeding up the probe against the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks despite providing it with six dossiers. It is also disappointed that Hafiz Saeed, mastermind of 26/11, has not yet been prosecuted.

Krishna said he had not asked for any assurance from Pakistan on Saeed nor was any assurance given to him. “We have said that on the basis of the dossier that we have provided to the government of Pakistan, they should conduct investigations.

“A conspiracy has been hatched on the soil of Pakistan. Naturally, the government of Pakistan will have to do the investigations,” he said.

Qureshi told journalists that Pakistan had arrested seven people in connection with the Mumbai carnage and their prosecutions would begin on October 3. “Pakistan wants to see this trial to a logical conclusion,” he said.

The meeting between two leaders was the first high-level contact between the countries since their Prime Ministers met at the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh in July.

There are possibilities that the two neighbours could engage on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which is scheduled late November in Trinidad.

When asked about the next round of meetings, Krishna said, “We have just come out of one (meeting). So, give us some time.” The ministerial meeting came a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, talking tough bluntly told Pakistan that it must stop state-sponsored terrorism to normalise ties with India.

India suspended the composite dialogue process with Pakistan in the wake of the Mumbai attacks last year and linked the resumption of talks to Pakistan taking action against the perpetrators of the assault. — PTI