Terror, proof top Indo-Pak talk plan

NEW DELHI: Foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon and his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Mohammad Khan enjoyed a quiet dinner on Monday night, ahead of the “very difficult” round of talks scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. Pakistan foreign secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan, who arrived on Monday afternoon, said he was happy to be in Delhi for resuming the composite dialogue process that was halted in the aftermath of the July 11 Mumbai blasts.

Mr Khan, who is heading a 12-member delegation, was received at the airport by Mr Menon. “I am looking forward to very constructive discussions with the foreign secretary,” Mr Khan said on arrival at the airport. But what New Delhi will be more interested in will be action rather than the assurances Islamabad gives on curbing cross-border terrorism.

The Indian side will ensure that the focus of the talks remains on terrorism. India will table during the talks the evidence linking some elements in Pakistan to the Mumbai terrorists attacks. The Indian side will also give evidence of Pakistani links in other terror attacks in the country since the blasts during Diwali in Delhi last year.

The two sides are expected to discuss contours of the terror mechanism that was announced in Havana after talks between prime minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf.

The two sides are also expected to agree on dates for talks on Sir Creek and Siachen. Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid M Kasuri told a television channel that a solution for the demilitarisation of Siachen is possible within days. However, officials here say that they haven’t received any indication that Pakistan has accepted India’s authentication of positions on the glacier. Mr Kasuri also said, according to agency reports, that tangible progress was needed from the talks and that the composite dialogue process should not be seen as an “exercise in futility”.

Another issue that is to come up for review is the progress on the confidence building measures. The two sides are understood to be close to an understanding on a pact on notification in case of nuclear accidents. Mr Khan will meet Mr Menon for talks in the morning.

The Pakistani foreign secretary has invited moderate and hard-line factions of the Hurriyat for separate meetings in the evening. Mr Khan will meet Syed Ali Geelani, chairman of the hard-line faction of Hurriyat Conference, and a team of the moderate Hurriyat faction including Shabir Ahmad Shah, chief of Democratic Party. Yasin Malik and Abdul Ghani Bhatt are also meeting the Pakistan foreign secretary.