Is US behind Indian Proposal to Talks with Pak, Asks Advani
Senior BJP leader LK Advani has asked if government’s move to initiate foreign secretary level talks with Pakistan was ‘upshot of a powerful nudge from Washington’, reported IANS.
“The question people have been asking in a more straightforward manner is … is its (India’s) latest U-turn on dialogue the upshot of a powerful nudge from Washington?” Advani was quoted as saying.
He stressed that the government’s proposal came in spite of its earlier insistence on ‘steadfast refusing to resume talks with Pakistan until Islamabad brings those behind the Mumbai attacks to justice, report said.
“New Delhi’s sudden announcement last week that India was willing to hold foreign secretary level parleys with Pakistan has naturally made many political analysts in the country ask: is this the consequence of (Barack) Obama’s assertion being put into action?” the former deputy prime minister wrote.
An advocate of tough gesture to Pakistan, Advani wrote this in a reference to a pre-election interview by Obama in which he hinted at anointing a special envoy for the Kashmir issue to resolve the Indo-Pak relations, said report.
Advani also said that the change in country’s position on the issue resulted in gloating in Pakistan, said report.
He made the statement referring to Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s remarks boasting ‘gleefully that it was international pressure that had forced India to return to the negotiating table!’
