Talks with Pak not possible till terror ends: India

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Talks with Pak not possible till terror ends: India

The second Indian heads of missions meet kicked off on Monday with foreign minister S M Krishna reiterating that it is not possible for
India to have meaningful talks with Pakistan at this stage because Islamabad has not done enough against terrorism. Krishna, however, added that India would like to address its differences with the neighbouring country through dialogue.

While the recent Sharm el-Sheikh joint statement did not come up for discussion on the first day, India's senior diplomats are expected to engage in an "interactive" session to review neighbourhood policy. There has been a demand from many Indian ambassadors for greater clarity on India's neighbourhood policies, which they have to defend in the countries they serve.

The ambassadors' conclave is also expected to discuss the impact of the global financial crisis, Asia-Pacific security (which is a euphemism for China) and a session vaguely named India 2020.

Apart from the foreign minister, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and Kapila Vatsyayan also addtressed the envoys. They also had a long session with National Security Adviser MK Narayanan.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Ahluwalia and commerce minister Anand Sharma are expected to address the diplomats on Tuesday.

In his session witt the envoys, Narayanan focused on India's relations with the US, particularly the opportunities and challenges with the new Obama administration. The general consensus at the end of the discussions was that the jury was still out on whether the quality of engagement with the US would improve in the Obama years or not.

Krishna, in his address, said the new dialogue architecture would reflect the increasingly global character of bilateral dialogue between the two countries. "India's established capabilities in high technology and our unimpeachable record of using these technologies in a responsible and transparent manner are creating opportunities for upgrading our access to high technology from the major powers,'' he said.

On Pakistan, Krishna continued, "We have maintained that a stable Pakistan at peace with itself and the region is a desirable goal. We wish to address our differences with Pakistan through dialogue."

"At the same time, we made it clear that a meaningful dialogue will only be possible following the fulfilment by Pakistan of its commitment not to allow its territory to be used for terrorist activities against India,'' he added.

Earlier, welcoming the envoys for the conference, foreign secretary Nirupama Rao in her opening remarks spoke of the role, the agenda and the challenges confronting Indian diplomats.
 

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Indian envoys meet evades talks on Indo-Pak joint statement - India - NEWS - The Times of India

Two days into an annual conference of India's envoys in the capital has seen a reverberating silence into the UPA government's most
recent foreign policy affair. There has been no reference to, and almost no questions asked, about the India-Pakistan joint statement at Sharm el-Sheikh, which raised a political firestorm in the country only weeks ago. Interestingly, though privately Indian ambassadors repeatedly refer to the joint statement, at the envoys' conclave there has been a remarkable lack of curiosity about the event.

On Tuesday, the ambassadors gathered together for a pow-pow on India's neighbourhood policy. Initially Pakistan was not even on the agenda, which only goes to show what everyone has always suspected, that India's policy on Pakistan is driven by domestic politics and domestic imperatives.

But later the agenda was amended to include Pakistan and it was left to the ambassadors to grill India's high commissioner to Pakistan Sharat Sabharwal about Pakistan. The general consensus after the discussion seemed to point to the fact that despite recent events of Pakistan forces going after the Tehrik-e-Taliban, there was no change in their attitude towards India.

Neither the Prime Minister nor the foreign minister, in their speeches, referred to Sharm el-Sheikh. The only person to make an honest reference to it was National Security Adviser MK Narayanan. In his remarks on Monday, Narayanan clarified that Sharm el-Sheikh did not signify any substantive change in India's approach to Pakistan. He also made it clear that there would be no talks with Pakistan until there was action against India-specific terrorists in Pakistan.

In an interview on Tuesday, foreign minister SM Krishna emphasised the UPA government's inflexibility on Pakistan and terrorism.
 

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