M A I N   N E W S

N-issue, Kashmir CBMs on agenda 
Ashok Tuteja
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, however, made it clear again today that there was no dilution in India’s stand that Pakistan must bring to justice the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks.

Indo-Pak talks on June 23-24 The two top diplomats would review all the developments and the progress in the trial of the seven persons in the custody of the Pakistani authorities for their involvement in the Mumbai incidents.  The three main items on the agenda would be: peace and security, including CBMs, J&K and promotion of friendly exchanges.

“We will go (to Islamabad) with an open and constructive approach…we have a realistic approach. The dialogue (with Pakistan) is a process and not an end in itself,” official sources said.

They said the two top diplomats would review all the developments and the progress in the trial of the seven persons in the custody of the Pakistani authorities for their involvement in the Mumbai incidents. The three main items on the agenda would be: peace and security, including CBMs, J&K and promotion of friendly exchanges.

Emphasising that recent meetings between the two sides on issues like Siachen, security, trade and commerce and water have led to a “better understanding” between them of each other’s position, they said New Delhi was satisfied with the pace of the dialogue, which was resumed in February after a hiatus of more than two years in the wake of the Mumbai attacks. The foreign ministers of the two countries are scheduled to meet in July in New Delhi. The sources said the absence of a Cabinet-rank foreign minister in Pakistan would not have an impact on the dialogue process.

The sources said India desired more CBMs to facilitate easier trade and travel between the people on the two sides of Kashmir. This could include increasing the frequency of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus and opening of more points to facilitate border trade.

The sources would not disclose much on the nuclear CBMs being considered by the two countries. The two countries had discussed the issue in 2007 also. Since then, India’s worry about the safety of Pakistani nuclear weapons has grown manifold, particularly in the wake of the terrorist attack on the Mehran Naval Base in Karachi recently.

Regretting the ‘glacial pace’ of the 26/11 trial in Pakistan, the sources said India was ‘least satisfied’ with it. They also drew attention to the fact that the court proceedings in the case were adjourned for the fourth time recently.

“From our side, we have given all the documentary evidence that Pakistan wanted to take the trial forward. We need justice…the Mumbai carnage is not behind us,” they asserted. On the recent confessions about the 26/11 attacks by Pakistan-born Canadian Tahawwur Rana in a Chicago court, New Delhi said its concerns included the larger conspiracy behind the Mumbai carnage. “Our concerns have not, in any way, been diminished by the resumption of dialogue. Through dialogue, you keep the chain of communication open...How can our concerns of terrorism not be addressed by us? Terrorism is central to our concerns.”