New Delhi, February 1
A move that could gladden the hearts of peaceniks, India and Pakistan could soon be resuming the dialogue process, stranded after the November 26 (2008) Mumbai terror attacks.
Hinting at the possibility becoming a reality soon, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram today said: “…if I presume that I go to Pakistan, I presume I will hold bilateral talks, if there is an opportunity.” The Home Minister is slated to attend the ‘SAARC Home and Interior Ministers’ Conference’ scheduled in Islamabad later this month. But he quickly went on to add: “…but please remember, SAARC is a multilateral forum.”
Chidambaram said this in reply to a query whether he would hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart if he went to Islamabad to attend the conference. Notably, Indo-Pak talks were last held in May 2008; the then External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, had represented India.
Notably, the SAARC conference was originally to be held in November 2009 but was rescheduled from February 20. Expected to discuss cooperation against terrorism, narcotics and organised crime, the meeting would be attended by ministers from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Separately, the Home Minister appeared non-committal on the role of National Security Adviser in internal security matters, saying it was for the Prime Minister to decide on this issue as well as that of reorganising the home ministry.
“In the (proposed) national counter terrorism centre, we have not discussed the role of NSA. He advises the government and the Prime Minister. It is the prerogative of the Prime Minister to entrust him with any responsibility,” he said.
The departure of MK Narayanan, a former Intelligence Bureau chief, from the office of NSA came amidst Chidambaram’s talk of restructuring
the internal security architecture. On restructuring the home ministry, he said: “There has been no follow-up on that. More work related to non-internal security matters will be allocated to the two Ministers of State — Ajay Maken and Mullapally Ramachandran. They will take review meetings and hold discussions with officers on subjects that are not directly related to internal security so that I can conserve my time for internal security matters.”
Also, the Home Minister firmed up his resolve to improve the state of forensic science in the country. He said the ministry had appointed a two-member team of consultants to examine the facilities of training and condition of laboratories. He said the state of forensic science as well as that of the central and state forensic science laboratories “left much to be desired”, hence the year 2010 had been declared as the ‘Year of forensic science’.
The two-member team of Gopalji Sharma and Dr C Damodaran would be submitting the first interim report by April 30 and the final one by July 31, the Home Minister added.
