Resumption of dialogue with Pak difficult in current situation: Rao

Voicing concern over Pakistan’s inaction against perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks, including Hafiz Saeed, India on Tuesday warned that its restraint should not be confused with weakness and said it is “very, very difficult” to resume composite dialogue at present.

”... please realise that there are groups in Pakistan that continue to follow an agenda of violence, of hatred,” Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said at the Woodrow Wilson Centre in response to a question from a Lahore-based Pakistani national who asked why India was refusing to restart the composite dialogue with Pakistan which itself was a victim of terrorism.

“I did not want to bring the name of Hafiz Saeed and Jamaat-ud-Dawah and the LeT ... we feel (they) continue to roam, to speak, to be allowed unhindered access to media, to channels to communicate that agenda (of violence).. that effects us, our people are concerned about it,” Ms. Rao said.

The general feeling in India right now is: “We have suffered too much for too long,” she said.

“It is very, very difficult to be convinced in such a situation that we should set aside these concerns and just move on. And that is why, I said when you talk of resuming composite dialogue (it) becomes very, very difficult to do that in the current situation,” Ms. Rao said.

At the same time, she said the door for talks with Pakistan had never been shut.

“India has always condemned terrorist attack inside Pakistan,” Ms. Rao, who is in the US on a six-day visit, said. “We have never in any way condoned that. We condemn it whole heartedly.”

Composite dialogue

Earlier in her address also, she ruled out resumption of composite dialogue with Pakistan till Islamabad guarantees that terrorism can be controlled by its authorities.

“Today, Pakistan claims that it is in no position to give us such a guarantee that terrorism can be controlled by its authorities. In such a situation, the people of India who are already bitterly affected by the series of terrorist attacks directed against them, can hardly be expected to support the resumption of a full-blown Composite Dialogue with Pakistan,” Ms. Rao said.

She asserted that despite the brazen and malignant nature of the threats India face, New Delhi has made several genuine efforts to restore trust and confidence.

“Aggressive pronouncements by persons identified by the world as terrorists continue to be made openly against India.

Distinctions made between the various terrorist outfits are now meaningless, since they are now in effect fused both operationally and ideologically,” she said.

“We have consistently emphasised the need for governments concerned to act decisively to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism and to effectively deal with groups that perpetrate it.”

However, Ms. Rao said, “our restraint should not be confused with weakness or unwillingness to act against those that seek to harm our people, create insecurity and hamper our developmental goals.”

“It is also important that there are strict accountability criteria that apply to defence assistance rendered to Pakistan for operations against terrorists and insurgents on the border with Afghanistan,” Ms. Rao said.

New Delhi’s past experience regarding such assistance has taught it to be vigilant to the possibility of the aid being used “for purposes that generate tension and hostile actions against India,” the Foreign Secretary said.

“We do not have aggressive designs against Pakistan and we want it to be a stable and prosperous country. But we will be vigilant about our security. That is our sovereign right.”

Ms. Rao said India has time and again made genuine attempts to address outstanding issues, most importantly, the issue of terrorism through dialogue with Pakistan. “My meeting with my Pakistani counterpart (Salman Bashir on February 25) represented the latest such move.”

Despite the provocations India has faced constantly from terrorists whose linkages it has traced back to Pakistani soil, New Delhi has not abandoned the path of dialogue, she said.

Terrorism

“And in our recent meeting, India’s approach was to focus on our concerns regarding terrorism, pending humanitarian issues and some bilateral visits that have been planned or spoken of, but have not taken place,” Ms. Rao said.

“But it continues to be our conviction that for this dialogue to really make progress, Pakistan should take meaningful steps to address our concerns on terrorism, and cease the encouragement of terrorism targeted against India.”

Afghanistan

Turning to Afghanistan, Ms. Rao said the recent attacks on Indians were aimed at forcing India out of the war-torn nation and ruled out scaling down New Delhi’s operations there.

“We are not scaling down our operations in Afghanistan, we are taking all necessary security measures to safeguard Indian lives there,” she said in response to a question.

Ms. Rao said there was “no quick solution” to the Af-Pak situation and “it was important for international community, in its own interest, to stay the present course for as long as it was necessary.”

Indo-China ties

About Sino-India ties, she said the relationship has improved significantly in the last two decades and the two neighbours are discussing ways to resolve their border issue.

“The rise of China and the rise of India has become an object of world attention. I think, in both the countries, we see a competitive edge but we also see a greater degree of collaboration between the two counties,” Ms. Rao said. “There is peace on our borders with China.”

On the Indo-US relationship, she said the conclusion of the civil nuclear Agreement in 2008 was “a major definitive milestone” in bilateral ties.

The implementation of the deal is “proceeding smoothly and satisfactorily”, she said. “We are in the process of operationalising the agreement through close coordination between our two governments.”

The nuclear liability bill is likely to be introduced in India Parliament after the recess, Ms. Rao -- who is set to meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, National Security Advisor James Jones and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Bill Burns -- said replying to a query.

‘Talks a practical approach to seek redressal on terror’

India has proposed February 18 and 25 to Pakistan for Foreign Secretary-level talks as part of a “practical and pragmatic” approach to seek redressal of its core concern of cross-border terrorism but warns that there will be a huge setback if 26/11 is repeated.

According to sources India underlines that the proposed Foreign Secretary-level talks would not mean resumption of composite dialogue even though it is ready to discuss whatever issue Pakistan raises, including Balochistan, as it wants to deal with the situation in a “mature” and “confident” manner.

From the Indian side, cross-border terrorism and infiltration, which witnessed a marked increase last year, will be the “centre-piece” of the proposed meeting.

Under the composite dialogue eight issues including Jammu and Kashmir and terrorism were discussed in four rounds of talks before it was “paused” in November 2008 in the wake of Mumbai attacks.

The Foreign Secretary-level talks “are not composite dialogue but just dialogue” to “unlock” the channels of communication frozen since 26/11 attacks, sources said on Sunday.

The offer of talks is a “practical and pragmatic approach” to seek redressal of India’s concerns with regard to cross-border terrorism, the sources said, adding the intention is to convey its point of view directly to the Pakistani establishment rather than “firing salvos.”

In the ice-breaking decision, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao has invited her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir here for talks and proposed February 18 and 25 for the same.

While offering Foreign Secretary-level talks as an “incremental step”, India has made it clear that there cannot be any “meaningful dialogue” or “normalisation” of relations until its prime concern of cross-border terrorism is addressed by Pakistan.

Rejecting Pakistan’s contention that it would not be able to prevent a repeat of 26/11, the sources said that if such an incident takes place again, there will be a “huge setback” to the efforts to normalise relations.

Sources here underlined that meaningful dialogue cannot take place in an environment of terror or even the threat of terror and put the onus on Pakistan government to address these issues.

“Pakistan must take all necessary steps to prevent any incident like Mumbai attacks,” the sources said.

In this regard, India highlights its concern over the February 4 joint public meeting in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir of various terror groups, which was addressed by Hafiz Saeed, chief of banned Jamaat-ud-Dawah and talked about jihad against India.

India’s disappointment over Pakistan’s inaction over the public provocative speeches will be put across the Foreign Secretary talks.

India emphasises that the Pakistan government cannot throw its hands up on this and those “in-charge” or “taking decisions” in Pakistan will have to think about these aspects.

“But we need to talk to each other, rather than at each other,” the sources said. However, for any meaningful talks, Pakistan “will have to be conscious and sensitive” to India’s concerns and crack down on terror groups and individuals.