Onboard Special Aircraft, June 22 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna on Wednesday said expectations from India-Pakistan foreign secretary-level talks should not be pitched too high, because it is one of the relationships that New Delhi is trying to cultivate over the last few months.
Speaking to ANI while returning from Myanmar, Krishna said all issues that affect Indo-Pakistan ties will be discussed at the two rounds of secretary level talks on June 23 and 24 in Islamabad.
"I have suggested that all issues that bug our relationship are going to be discussed, when the foreign secretary visits Islamabad. So, let us not speculate and let not the expectations be pitched too high because this is one of the relationships, which we are trying to cultivate in the last few months," said Krishna.
Krishna added after the setbacks that the relationship received the Mumbai attacks, the government is baking a determined cake to work out a cordial relationship with their immediate neighbour Pakistan.
"I have said that terror is going to be one of the issues, which will naturally be discussed with Pakistan and the whole region is terror infested and as somebody put it, I would only say that all issues concerning terror, all issues concerning various other issues between our two countries will be discussed," added Krishna.
India broke off peace negotiations with Pakistan after the Mumbai attacks in 2008 by Pakistan-based militants that killed 166 people, but the two sides agreed earlier this year to resume talks.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao urged Pakistan to speed up the Mumbai attacks trial case.
"When I refer to the issue of closure, I was of course referring to the Mumbai terror attacks. There is an ongoing trial in Pakistan that has moved rather slowly and when we talk of closure, what we are implying is that justice should be done in this matter and those who were responsible for triggering this terror attack, who conspired to attack our people should be brought to justice," said Rao.
She said the issues of militancy, which infests the region is of utmost concern and Pakistan has been telling in recent months that their country is seriously affected by this problem and that many Pakistanis have also fallen victim to militancy.
Rao added the idea behind the secretary level talks is to address the issue of trust deficit and build more confidence in the relationship.
"Well the idea is to address the trust deficit and to build more confidence in the relationship, to strengthen exchanges between the two countries and to have a meaningful dialogue on the outstanding issues that have complicated our relationship in the past," added Rao.
She noted there are many areas where there is need to normalise relation between the two countries like issue of trade, issue of contacts between people of the two sides, issue of people to people exchanges, issue of making travel easier between the countries.
Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir are assigned to tackle the territorial argument over Kashmir, which lies at the heart of tension between the two nuclear-armed states.
The talks are expected to improve ties between the two neighbours, which have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, but analysts say any breakthrough is unlikely.
Most analysts say one should not expect any big and immediate results out of these talks because Kashmir is an old and complicated issue and it cannot be resolved so easily.
India accuses its neighbour of arming, abetting and sending Islamist militants into its part of divided Kashmir, which both sides claim in full. India has also tried to use the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan by U.S. forces last month to ratchet up pressure on Islamabad to do more to tackle militancy.
Pakistan denies India's charges. (ANI)
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