India said the four-hour meeting between the foreign secretaries in New Delhi was intended to begin the process of rebuilding a relationship badly damaged by Mumbai attacks, which India blames on Pakistan-based militants.
“We have set out to take a first step toward rebuilding trust,” Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao told reporters after the talks.
India handed over three dossiers to Pakistan, containing names of 34 wanted terrorists, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed, with a demand that they be turned over to New Delhi.
During the talks Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir decided to “remain in touch and continue efforts to restore trust.”
Rao said she reiterated to her Pakistani counterpart that his country must do more to dismantle terror networks and gave him dossiers on those linked to the Mumbai attacks.
Bashir said, “If you keep saying that Pakistan is a source of all your troubles, I am sorry, it is short-sightedness.”
Accusing India of portraying Pakistan as the source of terrorism, Bashir said Pakistan does not like to be “lectured” on terrorism and that they know how to deal with it.
“As far as the issue of Mumbai is concerned, Pakistan has done everything that was proper and could be done,” Bashir said.
Under repeated questioning from reporters, Bashir grew testy and said Pakistan had been hit by thousands of terror attacks, and India should stop lecturing it. “We have suffered many, many hundreds of Mumbais,” he said. “We have lost a large number of civilians who have been subjected to these attacks by terrorists. Pakistan’s No. 1 priority is to deal with terrorism.”
India also called on Pakistan to investigate reported claims of responsibility for the bombing of a cafe in the city of Pune two weeks ago, Rao said.
Pakistan used the meeting to raise broader issues including the dispute over Kashmir, allegations that India is aiding militants in the Pakistani province of Balochistan and a conflict over shared water resources.
Bashir said the two sides need to “engage meaningfully, across the board, on all these issues.”
“Terrorism is a regional, global concern. It’s our concern as well,” Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit told reporters shortly before talks began.
“But Kashmir issue is the core .... It is an issue that continues to bedevil our relationship and not discussing this issue will not do justice to this meeting.”
The talks are a political risk for New Delhi because of public mistrust of Pakistan. However, the government does not want to write off diplomacy and wants to keep tensions low between the countries.
— With input from agencies
