New Delhi, July 09: Ruling out an early Indo-Pak summit meeting, India today asserted that while it was not shying away from discussing Kashmir, Pakistan should emulate the Sino-Indian model of not allowing one single issue to hold "hostage" progress in all other issues.
Emphasising the step-by-step approach towards a dialogue, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said the time was not ripe for a summit or even a meeting at the level of foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan. "We should first talk about the talks--how these will begin and what will be the agenda".
Responding to President Pervez Musharraf's suggestion that India should show "flexibility" as it had done in the case of Tibet, Sinha said he did not know what flexibility the general was referring to.
"I would like to tell them in turn that they should perhaps emulate the model we have evolved with China to further our relations where we have moved forward on all fronts and we have not allowed one single issue to hold progress hostage on all other issues," he told.
Sinha, who has just completed one year in the foreign office marked by major Indian initiatives towards Pakistan and China, said India was willing to discuss all issues including Jammu and Kashmir but there was no agreement with Islamabad as to what constituted a core issue, a term repeatedly used by Musharraf to describe Kashmir.
The External Affairs Minister made it clear that no meaningful talks could be held with Islamabad without an end to the cross border terrorism and infiltration which continued to cause great concern to India.
Asked whether this was a pre-condition for resumption of talks with Pakistan, Sinha responded, "meaningful talks and cross border terrorism cannot go on simultaneously. This is a reality which has to be recognised by Pakistan and by the international community."
Would India accept the Line of Control (LoC) as the border with Pakistan as had been suggested in certain quarters? the Minister was asked.
"We have a parliament resolution and we are not thinking beyond that. We should study what has happened in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and northern areas under Islamabad's control," he replied adding that Pakistan has ceded part of that territory to China.
"Therefore, when we talk about J&K, we will have to determine what is J&K and what is it we are talking about. .....so therefore we have to determine the geography of J&K before you come to talk about LoC," the Minister said.
These issues, he said, were of "very vital significance and much more important than the LoC".
Bureau Report
