The Hindu : Front Page : Krishna’s statement affirms our stand: Pakistan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 29, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Front Page

Front Page

Krishna’s statement affirms our stand: Pakistan

Nirupama Subramanian

Battle against terrorism has to be fought jointly by both countries, says Foreign Ministry spokesman

Islamabad hopes peace process will be resumed
Pre-conditions for talks untenable, it says

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has detected signs of a thaw in India’s post-Mumbai attacks cold shoulder, going by External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna’s statement that the two countries should join hands to fight terrorism together.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said Mr. Krishna’s remarks, made while condemning Wednesday’s Lahore blast, was an affirmation of Pakistan’s position that the battle against terrorism had to be fought jointly by both countries.

“It is encouraging that while condemning the Lahore blast, the External Affairs Minister of India has expressed the hope that India and Pakistan can join hands in fighting this menace [of terrorism]. This underscores what we have been saying all along, that we need to fight this together through the framework of the Joint Anti-Terror Mechanism,” he said.

The spokesperson expressed the hope that in the coming days, the two countries could soon resume the peace process, which India froze after the Mumbai attacks, and make it “irreversible and result-oriented.”

Rejects statement

The spokesman rejected an earlier statement by the Indian Minister ruling out resumption of peace talks if Pakistan did not dismantle, what India calls, the “infrastructure” of terror on its territory and prosecute Pakistanis responsible for the Mumbai attacks. “Pre-conditions for talks, in our view, are mostly untenable, because Pakistan can also do the same. But as a responsible country, we do believe that it is only through dialogue and constructive engagement that we can realistically bring about a comprehensive resolution of problems.”

No country was more aware of the suffering from terrorism than Pakistan, the spokesman said, but it could not be tackled through a “unilateral or partial” approach or with “blinkered perspectives.”

Cause for delay

He also pointed a finger at India for the delay on the part of Pakistan in the prosecution of the five suspects arrested here for their alleged involvement in the Mumbai attacks. “In response to our set of questions we sent on April 13, India came back to us with some material on May 20. Unfortunately, the material is in languages other than English and Urdu. So you can see for yourself how the delay is occurring in the launching of proceedings for prosecution,” he said.

Mr. Basit said the Indian material was in Hindi and Marathi.

Interior Ministry head Rehman Malik told a private television channel on Wednesday that India had sent Ajmal Amir Kasab’s statement in Hindi.

It had been sent for translation, Mr. Malik said, and would be available on Thursday.

The prosecution planned to present it in the anti-terror court where the proceedings have been instituted against the five Pakistani suspects, including Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, operations commander of the Laskhar-e-Taiba.

The spokesman rejected the impression that the Joint Anti-Terror Mechanism, set up by India and Pakistan in March 2007, had failed.

It had met four times, but it had to be given time to develop a mechanism, he said.

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

Front Page