New Delhi/Beijing: India and Pakistan have
differing agendas for the Foreign Secretary-level talks on
Thursday with New Delhi maintaining that its focus would be on
terror and the other side cautioning that such a "narrow
agenda" would not yield much progress.
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir, along with
a five-member delegation, will reach New Delhi tomorrow for
talks with his Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao, the first
formal bilateral talks in 14 months after the Mumbai terror
attacks in November 2008.
Clearly giving the Indian perspective, Rao has said
the focus of the talks would be on India`s "core concerns"
over cross-border terrorism.
Terming the proposal of talks from India as "another
sincere attempt" to initiate dialogue with Pakistan, Rao said
"we hope we can build, in a graduated manner, better
communication and a serious and responsive dialogue to address
issues of concern between our two countries."
However, In Beijing, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah
Mehmood Qureshi today said his country wants all bilateral
issues, including Kashmir, to be discussed in Thursday talks.
He said much progress would not be made if India
restricts the dialogue to a "narrow agenda" of terrorism.
-PTI
