NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD, 8 May 2003 — India said yesterday suggestions made by Pakistani Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali on resuming diplomatic ties, as well as road and rail links, would be considered “in due course” depending on Islamabad’s action against militants.

But Foreign Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna also said India was progressing on its announcement to resume diplomatic links and had made a formal request to Pakistan on the appointment of a new high commissioner in Islamabad.

India welcomed Jamali’s announcement late Tuesday to release Indian prisoners and resume civil aviation links.

“The Pakistani prime minister has made several other suggestions on diplomatic representation, resumption of road and rail links, sports contacts, etc,” Sarna told reporters.

“These measures can be considered in due course as we see progress on the steps announced by our prime minister and there is evidence of Pakistan taking firm and credible action against cross-border terrorism and to dismantle the infrastructure of support to terrorism.”

But Sports Minister Vikram Verma ruled out immediate resumption of bilateral cricket ties with Pakistan. “It won’t happen overnight,” he told Reuters.

“It is not that the train service is resumed today and we can start playing (bilateral cricket) tomorrow,” Verma said, adding that a friendly atmosphere must be created first.

Earlier, Indian government sources said the Pakistani proposals did not address the core issue of militancy in disputed Kashmir. A top government source described them as “completely inadequate.”

India’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) echoed the view. “These offers are superficial because as long as the core issues are not addressed, there will be no conductive atmosphere,” BJP spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra told AFP.

He identified the key issues as “cross-border terrorism;” militant training camps in the Pakistani sector of the divided state; and the alleged sponsorship of the militants by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence secret service.

The Indian Parliament, meanwhile readied for a full-fledged debate on the olive branch proffered by Pakistan in the latest bid by the two South Asian nuclear giants to improve their estranged ties.

Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha described the developments as a “serious issue.”

“It is a serious issue. It is a matter of India-Pakistan relations and Parliament ... will debate it tomorrow (Thursday),” Sinha told AFP yesterday.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Mahmud Kasuri, however, yesterday denied that the measures are inadequate. “One could similarly say that the prime minister of India had spoken of air links without mentioning rail and road links ... we did not respond negatively,” Kasuri told India’s NDTV news channel. “It’s my belief that it is in the interests of both Pakistan and India to get closer to each other...

“We appreciate the statesmanship shown by the prime minister of India and we would expect that the people and the government of India would also similarly display ... a greater degree of generosity toward the prime minister of Pakistan,” Kasuri said.

He also accused Sinha of recently mounting a campaign to prevent Pakistan from re-entering the Commonwealth, saying that it sent a “very negative” signal.

Pakistan’s membership was suspended in 1999 after a military coup. When asked about Pakistan not addressing India’s concerns on “terrorism”, Kasuri said Pakistan favored a “composite dialogue to address all issues.”

Prime Minister Jamali announced the measures in Islamabad late Tuesday, responding to a May 2 offer by Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to restore full diplomatic and air links.

An Indian government source said Islamabad was attempting to revert to the situation that existed before a Dec. 13, 2001 attack on India’s Parliament by gunmen New Delhi claims were sponsored by Islamabad. Pakistan denied any link to the attack.

Indian Minister of State for Home Affairs Haren Pathak told Parliament yesterday that up to 1,400 militants are waiting to cross from the Pakistani zone of Kashmir to the Indian side.