Pak Pushes for Resumption of Composite Dialogue; Rakes up Kashmir
With no clear signs of resumption of composite dialogue in near future from India, Pakistan has made a fresh pitch to restart talks highlighting the “resolute action” taken by Islamabad.
Besides, Islamabad wants to revive the Kashmir issue, left untouched in the Sharm-el-Sheikh joint statement issued following a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani on July 16.
In his address to senior defence and civilian officers at the National Defence College in New Delhi, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik said that the resumption of the sub-continental dialogue would provide a good opportunity to address various issues, including Jammu and Kashmir.
This, he added, was the essence of lasting and durable peace in South Asia.
Affirming that Pakistan was “taking resolute action to eliminate terrorism and militancy”, Malik highlighted some of the steps taken by his country in the aftermath of last November’s Mumbai terror attacks.
“It (terrorism) is a regional issue requiring a regional solution,” he maintained.
Alluding to the Sharm el-Sheikh joint statement, the Pakistani envoy said that both sides had acknowledged that “dialogue is the only way forward to discuss all the outstanding issues.”
India is, however, not convinced by Pakistan’s claims of action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai carnage. External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna has made it clear many a time that a meaningful dialogue will not be possible without concrete action by Islamabad against the Mumbai attackers and the larger anti-India terror infrastructure.
