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Right time for India to talk terror to Pak: Kanwal Sibal
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NewsByte on 19 May, 2008 03:11:32
 
By AMIT AGNIHOTRI
New Delhi, May 19: Welcoming the resumption of the composite dialogue between
India and Pakistan on Tuesday, former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal has said
the government should use the opportunity to put the issue of terrorism on the
table.
"It was the "most opportune" moment for the terror lobby to get active as the
composite dialogue resumes. The prime purpose of the Indian foreign minister’s
visit should be to assess the situation on the ground," former foreign secretary
Kanwal Sibal told this newspaper.
His remarks came in the backdrop of Pakistani troops resorting to heavy and
unprovoked firing on forward Indian posts at Mendhar, in Poonch sector of Jammu
& Kashmir, a day ahead of the two foreign secretaries meeting on Tuesday to
prepare the ground for the resumption of the composite dialogue between Indian
foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood
Qureshi on May 21.
The visit will mark India’s first high-level contact with the new Pakistan
government led by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.
Stating that the unprovoked firing from across the border is the result of the
political situation prevailing in Pakistan owing to the continuing power
struggle between president Pervez Musharraf, the new coalition government led by
Mr Gilani and the Army. Mr Sibal said the incident was "expected".
"The civilian agenda on foreign and security policy being set by the new
Pakistan government is without support from the Army and the ISI. Since the
government had been making some positive noises on this front, the attempt to
disrupt the dialogue seems to be well timed," Mr Sibal explained.
Though India is expected to go in for more cross-LoC CBMs, like increasing the
frequency of fortnightly Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalakot bus services
and starting the truck service, the former foreign secretary is of the opinion
that it is premature to stress on the CBMs.