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Not shying away from talks with Pakistan
Posted On Jul 06 2016
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In an attempt to further delay the 26/11 Mumbai attack trial despite a nudge from the U.S. earlier this month, Pakistan on Thursday sought “more evidence” in the case.
“The Foreign Secretary was quite prepared to go to Pakistan in January this year to hold initial discussions on the modalities of the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue”.
He said that Pakistan’s priority has been improved relations with her neighbours, including India. Tariq Khosa, former Director General of Pakistan’s FIA, who supervised the Mumbai terror attack probe had said in August previous year that the Mumbai 26/11 attack was planned and launched from Pakistani soil. “We keep hearing in media that so called list of 24 witnesses which are required by Pak to progress Mumbai terror attack case trial”, he said.
Indian researcher and former Ministry of External Affairs official, Vikram Sanjit has said that the Indo-Israel alliance on nuclear technology could become a headache for China and Pakistan.
Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs, Satraj Aziz, on Wednesday said India was avoiding dialogue with Pakistan because that meant issues such as Kashmir will have to be negotiated, reported Radio Pakistan.
Aziz said Kashmir will be “on top of the agenda” whenever the dialogue is held with India. Secondly, if India alone was given membership it would undermine the strategic stability in the region and many countries were convinced of this argument advanced by Pakistan, he said. “Now we await complete investigation on the Pakistani side”.
In response to the question on the arrest of Indian spy Kulbhushan Yadav from Balochistan, Swarup said India had at times sought consular access to Yadav which was not granted. Those circumstances can be made clear once we have access to him. “Now I don’t have to explain to the world about India’s position”.
“So we have to make sure that we move in a decisive way, but at a measured pace and according to our capacity, and ensuring that the blowback is manageable”, he said.
