On eve of talks, India asks Pak to contain terror, infiltration

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the Indo-Pak meetings, India has expressed concern over the rise in infiltration and sought “credible” action from Pakistan in the 26/11 terror attack case. Calling the recent spate of ceasefire violations “unfortunate” and “serious” , foreign secretary Nirupama Rao said that such incidents vitiated the atmosphere between the two countries.

“Our concerns have been conveyed to Pakistan on the rising incidents of infiltration and firing. These incidents of unprovoked firing do not contribute to a positive atmosphere,” she said ahead of her visit to Islamabad to hold talks with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir.

On Monday, Pakistani troops fired at a border post in R S Pura sub-sector along the international border. A similar incident took place on Sunday when Pakistani troops fired at Indian positions at Machhil sector in Jammu and Kashmir. Two porters were killed while two jawans were injured in Sunday’s firing.

Infiltration and firing from across the border have continued to be of concern to India, which has repeatedly taken up the matter with Pakistan. The matter is expected to figure in the upcoming talks which will focus on reducing the trust deficit between the two countries. For India, credible action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks remains a core concern.

Ms Rao pointed out that India expected Pakistan to take action on the evidence provided by India on the Mumbai terror attacks. “We have underlined to Pakistan to take this evidence and additional evidence on board seriously and take substantive action in response to what we have conveyed,’’ she said.

She added that this would be part of the upcoming discussions. “Obviously, this issue will form part of the discussions with Pakistani government during the forthcoming visits when I meet foreign secretary Salman Bashir and home minister P Chidambaram meets his counterpart Rehman Malik.” India had handed over its latest 26/11 dossier last week with additional information on the role of Lashkar founder Hafiz Saeed in the terror attacks and his links with LeT operatives Zaki-ur-Rehman and Ajmal Kasab.

Ms Rao leaves on Wednesday to hold discussions with Mr Bashir on Thursday. The foreign secretary level talks are aimed at paving the way for a substantive interaction between the foreign ministers of the two countries in July.