NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD: India has offered to hold official-level talks with Pakistan, a top Indian government official said on Thursday, signaling a breakthrough in relations frozen since the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Pakistan welcomed the offer.
“It is with a positive and open mind that this proposal has been made,” said a top government official requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
The talks will be held at the level of the top diplomats of the two countries.
“The Indian foreign secretary has invited her Pakistani counterpart to New Delhi. The meeting may take place later this month,” the official said, adding “terrorism will remain at the core of the discussions.”
Two TV stations, quoting unnamed official sources, said the talks would be held at foreign-secretary level.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told Reuters, “There are now signals emanating from India that they are willing to talk bilaterally. We welcome this ... if it leads to resumption of the composite dialogue.”
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit told AFP, “They have proposed foreign-secretary level talks and we have sought clarification on the contents of the proposed talks. We are awaiting response from India.”
According to anonymous official sources quoted by the Press Trust of India, New Delhi intends to raise the issue of “terrorism” and any other matter that could “contribute to creating atmosphere of peace and security” between the rivals.
“We strongly believe that if India really dispenses with its traditional inflexibility on the Kashmir issue, there is possibility of moving ahead and resolving the dispute,” Basit told reporters earlier on Thursday.
But he denied the government had been informed officially that Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram would attend a conference of South Asian interior ministers to be held in Rawalpindi on Feb. 26 and 27.
“We have not received a final communication nor is there any information with South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation secretariat about the visit,” the Foreign Ministry spokesman told AFP.
“We have just seen reports in the newspaper about the visit but still don’t know officially about it,” Basit said.
But, Indian Foreign Ministry officials said Chidambaram would meet his Pakistani counterpart, Rehman Malik, and other officials for talks that may have a narrow focus on what action Islamabad has taken in regard to the Mumbai attacks.
“Any dialogue now will focus on what progress Pakistan has made in dismantling the terrorist network on its soil that was used to attack Mumbai,” a senior government official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. “It could be a beginning that could help move things forward.”
