International - India & World   

Pakistan papers want result on substantive issues

Nirupama Subramanian

No alternative to talks, they say

ISLAMABAD: Newspapers in Pakistan gave a muted welcome to the resumption of talks between India and Pakistan. Stressing the need to remain engaged, they demanded results on substantive issues.

The Daily Times said one lesson from the last two months was that there was no alternative to talks between the two countries.

"In essence... what needs to be done should be done sooner than later because delay only serves to increase the costs all round... The two months we have lost could have been saved if emotions had not run so high."

``Commendable''

The newspaper described as "commendable" that the two sides had decided to institute a joint mechanism to combat terrorism.

"It also takes care of India's requirement for a resumption of the dialogue. Additionally, it now ensures that both governments can deal with the issue of terrorism institutionally rather than getting embroiled in a blame game in the wake of any terrorist strike," it said.

The newspaper said "it is good to know that the foreign secretaries are to meet shortly and discuss how to resolve issues like Siachen, Sir Creek and the whole range of CBMs on Kashmir".

The Nation said it is to be hoped that the anti terror cooperation mechanism "would remove India's posture of fear of `cross border' terrorism."

But recalling that the peace process — until it was put on hold after the Mumbai blasts — had seen India "adroitly" drag its feet on substantive issues, the newspaper expressed the hope for "purposeful" talks on Kashmir.

Appeal to Mushrraf

It appealed to President Pervez Musharraf to tell the world at the U.N. General Assembly that "Indian intransigence" was the cause of the failure to arrive at solutions to the disputes between the two countries.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Chirac prefers talks to sanctions on Iran
11 Muslim civilians killed in Sri Lanka
Painted elephant as art exhibit cleaned
Global rally for Darfur peace
World Bank to push good governance
Iran, Venezuela to deepen relations
Trash as souvenir
Neo-Nazis win seats
Persson voted out
India sees a `risk' in World Bank's strategy
IMF approves reform plan
Pakistan papers want result on substantive issues

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu