Krishna meets Qureshi; India focuses on terror concerns
The foreign ministers of India and Pakistan on Thursday met here with an aim to restore trust and increase confidence in bilateral ties, with New Delhi seeking strong action against those involved in 26/11 terror attacks, based on the inputs provided by David Headley. The external affairs minister, Mr S.M. Krishna, who arrived here on Wednesday on a three-day visit, met his Pakistani counterpart, Mr Shah Mahmood Qureshi and the two are understood to have discussed bilateral issues, including terrorism. Both Mr Krishna and Mr Qureshi were accompanied by senior officials. While the foreign secretary, Ms Nirupama Rao and the joint secretary in-charge of Pakistan in the ministry of external affairs, Mr Yash Sinha, were part of Mr Krishna's team, the Pakistan foreign secretary, Mr Salman Bashir and the spokesman, Mr Abdul Basit were part of Qureshi's delegation. The talks are the second between the foreign ministers since the 2008 Mumbai attacks that left 166 people dead. They had earlier met in New York in September last year. Krishna had on Wednesday asserted that "time has come" when Pakistan needed to act on the "overwhelming evidence" which was of "irrefutable nature" and maintained that "tirade" by jihadi leaders will not "help smoothen" the relations between the two countries. Maintaining that the trial of seven accused in the Mumbai attacks case here, including LeT operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, was moving at a slow pace, India has made it clear that it would like to see an expeditious and successful conclusion of the trial. Krishna's focus on Headley assumes significance in the backdrop of comments attributed to Indian home secretary, Mr G.K. Pillai, that evidence based on his interrogation showed that ISI and LeT chief Hafiz Saeed played "a much more significant role" in Mumbai terror attacks than was thought earlier. "I also look forward to receiving feedback on the issues raised by our home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, during his visit to Pakistan last month on our core concern of terrorism, particularly in the light of the discussions our home mMinister had in Pakistan in the context of interrogation of David Headley regarding the Mumbai terrorist attack," Mr Krishna said. On Wednesday night, the two foreign ministers had informal exchange of ideas at a dinner hosted by Qureshi.
Post new comment