Singh-Gilani Talks ‘Better than Expected’ but ‘Trust Deficit’ Exists: Qureshi

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that the talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Yousuf Raza Gilani in Thimphu  has gone ‘better than expected’, but sustained efforts are required to bridge the ‘trust deficit’ between the two countries, said media reports.

Talking to media persons, Qureshi said that the outcome of the engagement had been ‘better than the expectations’, reports said.

“It (the resumption of dialogue at the political level) is a step in the right direction, it is a concrete development and we will build on it,” he was quoted as saying.

Qureshi said that he intended to contact his Indian counterpart SM Krishna as soon as the budget session of Indian parliament came to a close on May 7 to discuss dates for a meeting to ‘take things forward’, said reports.

The minister said that he had ‘certain ideas’ to lessen the trust deficit, on which he would hold discussions with Krishna, reports said.

Answering a query whether the format of the dialogue would be altered, he said that there was ‘no difficulty’ over the nomenclature, said reports.

“If all issues are being discussed, call it comprehensive dialogue or call it composite dialogue or call it what you may. It is the spirit behind the dialogue that counts,” he was quoted as saying.

Quoting diplomatic sources, PTI reported that Pakistan has agreed to a change in the format of talks in the exchange for New Delhi’s consent to resumption of broad-based engagement with it.

Even during Qureshi’s press conference, there were enough indications of Pakistan’s accepting a format other than the Composite Dialogue.

He said that there was ‘no doubt’ that a trust deficit existed, and ‘we have to bridge it through confidence-building measures’ and wouldn’t disappear ‘overnight’ in ‘one sitting’, reports said.

“We have to be realistic and pragmatic. It is a process. If we allow the process to continue, obviously with the passage of time, the deficit will be narrowed down,” he was quoted as saying.

(Based on internet reports)