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Thursday, May 15, 2008
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Menon: terrorism on agenda in Islamabad talks

Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI: Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon on Wednesday declined to speculate on the organisations or countries behind the Jaipur blasts, but said terrorism and infiltration would be high on the agenda when he met his Pakistani counterpart on May 20.

“Unfortunately terrorism is a fact of life for us. We need to combat it at every level. It is a complex problem,” he said refusing to be drawn into a “hypothetical mind reading exercise” on who could be behind Tuesday’s blasts.

The question of violence and cross-border terrorism will be the top priority at the meeting in Islamabad. “We will certainly raise it. We look forward to discussing this issue with the Pakistan side,” Mr. Menon told newspersons here.

Asked if India was taking some specific proposals on curbing terrorism, he said the talks were still a week away. “My talks will comprise a review of the fourth round of composite dialogue. At the Foreign Secretary-level, we are tasked to discuss security and Jammu & Kashmir, apart from six subjects of the composite dialogue.” Declining to speculate on the forces behind the Jaipur blasts, Mr. Menon said: “Infiltration is a problem. We will deal with it on the ground and bilaterally with Pakistan.”

Asked whether the Foreign Office would take up the issue with Bangladesh, he said, “We don’t want to jump to conclusions. We are still in the process of investigating the blasts. After that, we will decide whom we will talk to and where we will go.”

Repeatedly queried about the organisations responsible for the blasts, he reiterated: “In Jaipur, we are still investigating. We don’t want to start jumping to conclusions. Let us look through the evidence.”

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