Islamabad scuttled talks: Nirupama Rao

NEW DELHI: India has blamed Pakistan for the failure of foreign minister-level talks in July, saying Islamabad’s “overreach” had thwarted New Delhi’s efforts at bridging the trust deficit.

“Our efforts to bridge the trust deficit and pave the way for a serious and comprehensive dialogue were thwarted by a level of overreach by Pakistan that complicated the resumption of a sustained dialogue process,” foreign secretary Nirupama Rao was quoted as saying by news agencies at a seminar on Pakistan organised by Jamia Milia Islamia.

The talks between external affairs minister S M Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi broke down over differences on the scope of dialogue and Pakistan wanting a timeline for resolving issues like J&K and Siachen glacier.

“However, we do not view this as a setback in our quest for peace as both sides appear to be committed to ensuring that the spirit of Thimphu is not lost,” Ms Rao said referring to India’s invitation to Mr Qureshi to visit the country to carry forward the dialogue.

Ms Rao also said that India’s advocacy of an “incremental, graduated and forward-looking approach that seeks to address the deficit of trust” is by no means an attempt to avoid tackling of the substantive differences that trouble relations with Pakistan.

“While there can be no guarantees for success, such an approach seeks to build first on what is achievable and simultaneously to also address the more intractable issues in a sustained manner,” she said.

Ms Rao said that the issue of terrorism arising out of the sub-conventional conflict directed by Pakistan against India for over two decades now, cannot be ignored. “It is as substantive an issue as the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, or the issue of the Siachen Glacier,” she said.