ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office said on Thursday it expected the meeting between the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India next week to lead to a sustained engagement, but did not indicate if there were any prospects of return to full-scale peace talks in near future.
“Our expectations are that as a result of this meeting our countries get engaged in a sustained manner,” Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said at a briefing.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna are scheduled to meet in Islamabad on July 15 to further the talks process initiated after a meeting between the prime ministers of two countries in Thimphu, Bhutan, in April on the sidelines of the Saarc summit.
The foreign secretaries of the two countries met in Islamabad on June 24 to set the agenda for the ministerial meeting. They exchanged several proposals for building trust, but it was clear that New Delhi and Islamabad would take long to overcome the mistrust that deepened after the Mumbai terror strikes.
On June 26, interior ministers of Pakistan and India held a meeting in Islamabad but failed to make any substantial forward movement. Islamabad was told by Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram that progress on substantive issues should not be expected unless the Mumbai case was resolved.
Mr Basit, however, told reporters that Pakistan would enter the upcoming talks with a positive mindset and with a hope that all issues would be discussed, as was agreed by the two prime ministers.
He reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to bring perpetrators of the Mumbai attack and its planners to justice.
“As far as Pakistan is concerned, we are proceeding with a full sense of responsibility and sincerity. We would like that those who have committed the (Mumbai) crime be brought to justice.”
The spokesman said Pakistan anticipated that India would shun its fixation with Mumbai after a realisation that disengagement had served neither country.
The spokesman expressed Pakistan’s concern on the worsening human rights situation in held Kashmir and reiterated full diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris’ legitimate cause and struggle for right to self-determination.
One of the trust-building proposals forwarded by Islamabad concerns improvement of human rights situation in the held Valley through withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and release of political detainees.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna are scheduled to meet in Islamabad on July 15 to further the talks process initiated after a meeting between the prime ministers of two countries in Thimphu, Bhutan, in April on the sidelines of the Saarc summit.
The foreign secretaries of the two countries met in Islamabad on June 24 to set the agenda for the ministerial meeting. They exchanged several proposals for building trust, but it was clear that New Delhi and Islamabad would take long to overcome the mistrust that deepened after the Mumbai terror strikes.
On June 26, interior ministers of Pakistan and India held a meeting in Islamabad but failed to make any substantial forward movement. Islamabad was told by Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram that progress on substantive issues should not be expected unless the Mumbai case was resolved.
Mr Basit, however, told reporters that Pakistan would enter the upcoming talks with a positive mindset and with a hope that all issues would be discussed, as was agreed by the two prime ministers.
He reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to bring perpetrators of the Mumbai attack and its planners to justice.
“As far as Pakistan is concerned, we are proceeding with a full sense of responsibility and sincerity. We would like that those who have committed the (Mumbai) crime be brought to justice.”
The spokesman said Pakistan anticipated that India would shun its fixation with Mumbai after a realisation that disengagement had served neither country.
The spokesman expressed Pakistan’s concern on the worsening human rights situation in held Kashmir and reiterated full diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris’ legitimate cause and struggle for right to self-determination.
One of the trust-building proposals forwarded by Islamabad concerns improvement of human rights situation in the held Valley through withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and release of political detainees.
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