New Delhi: The Indo-Pak Foreign
Secretary-level talks are likely to go ahead as per schedule
on February 25 despite the Pune bomb blast, with the incident
expected to sharpen focus on the issue of terror that India is
poised to raise.
Government sources today said the talks schedule
remains unchanged for the moment.
However, it is pointed out that the government would
discuss the issue of the attack in the context of the upcoming
talks when the investigations are completed.
The sources said such incidents are not ruled out in
Indo-Pak affairs and these are factored in when any decision
is taken.
Contending that India-Pakistan relations are
"accident-prone", the sources suggested that the possibility
of terror attacks was considered when the decision was taken
about proposing the Foreign Secretary-level talks.
The sources said India had "consciously" proposed the
talks knowing well the "complexities" involved in the
relationship and that "any knee-jerk reaction would not be
helpful`.
They said terrorism and any related issue that could
bring peace would be the central theme of the upcoming talks
and India wants to convey its concerns about it directly to
the Pakistani establishment.
India, which had refused to hold any dialogue with
Pakistan after the 26/11 attacks, offered to hold Foreign
Secretary-level talks only about two weeks back.
Significantly, the date for the talks was finalised a
day ahead of the blast at German bakery in Pune.
"It is premature to talk about the talks now as there
is no clarity yet about who is involved. Let the investigators
complete the probe, then we can talk about the talks," a
source said.
Prior to the Pune attack, high level sources in the
government had made it clear that there would be a "huge
setback" if anything like 26/11 is repeated.
The sources underlined that it becomes difficult for
the government to carry the public opinion with it for talks
if attacks take place.
India has been emphasising that "any meaningful talks"
cannot take place in an "environment of terror or even threat
of terror".
Preliminary investigations are already indicating
involvement of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror
outfit, which had carried out the Mumbai attacks of November
26, 2008.
Indications in this regard were given by Union Home
Secretary G K Pillai when he said that LeT operative David
Coleman Headley, Pakistani-origin American who was arrested in
the US last October, had conducted the survey of the vicinity
of German Bakery, target of yesterday`s attack.
In the wake of the Pune blast, Opposition BJP has
already started attacking the government for initiating the
"misconceived and adventurist" talks with Pakistan and said
that "terror and talks cannot co-exist".
PTI
