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Cross-border terrorism to figure in talks

Nirupama Subramanian

Meeting expected to inject life back into the peace process

ISLAMABAD: Indian concerns about cross-border terrorism will top the agenda at a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on the sidelines of the non-aligned meet at Havana later this month.

Indian officials here confirmed that a meeting between the two leaders in the Cuban capital would take place. Foreign Secretary-designate Shivshankar Menon will be part of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's delegation.

The Havana meeting is widely expected to inject life back into the peace process, in cold storage since the July Mumbai blasts. Pakistan has plainly said it wants to start the composite dialogue process that has been on hold since the blasts.

Officials said the Havana meeting would not simply be about agreeing on dates to resume talks. New Delhi waslooking for "actions" by Islamabad to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure that the Indian government alleges continues to exist in Pakistan.

The officials acknowledged that Pakistan had taken some steps, like putting a squeeze on funds to groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed and taking action against some of their lower rung functionaries. Pakistan has also arrested the Lashkar-e-Toiba founder Hafeez Saeed, even though this may not have been directly influenced by the Indian demand for his arrest.

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Cross-border terrorism to figure in talks

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