India should hold talks on LoC: FO

FAKIR SYED IQTIDARUDDIN

KARACHI: Pakistan's Foreign Office has said that India should hold dialogue with the Pakistan government on transgression over the Line of Control (LoC).

In a weekly briefing to the media in Islamabad on Thursday, Foreign Office spokesperson Moazzam Ali Khan said Pakistan has taken notice of the Indian Foreign Minister's statement.

"We regret threats by the Hindu terrorist group," he said, adding, "Drone attacks have no legal standing."

On Wednesday, Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said that the situation on LoC was a "lot better" and ties with Pakistan can move forward in a "sensible and calibrated" way one the "dust settles".

"It is important that we let a little time go by so that the dust as it were settles, and then in a sensible and a calibrated manner one can move forward," was Khurshid's reply to a question at his joint press conference with Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr, adding, "For the present I believe the situation looks a lot better than it did a few days ago."

However, he said Pakistan had shown no interest in holding talks yet.

"I think there were suggestions on how to move forward and the possibility that it could be done in one way or the other. Of course, that is a suggestion that came through the media. We have already said that we believe moving from any attempt to suggest a third party intervention to bilateral interface is a positive signal," said Khurshid.

"The fact that things have been quiet on the Line of Control, the fact that our DGMOs have been in touch in a meaningful way, I would believe that this all signifies a welcome shift in the right direction. But these are matters where the entire atmospherics and the entire context needs to be carefully studied, analysed from time to time before any further steps are taken," he added.

Jamil Ahmad (The Wandering Falcon) and Mohammed Hanif (Our Lady of Alice Bhatti) are among seven Pakistani authors selected for the 2013 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, but due to border tensions they have been warned by the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Pary (BJP) Yuva Morcha from attending the function. These writers were also part of the JLF in 2012.

Earlier this month, a play based on the life of Sa'adat Hasan Manto was cancelled, which was part of the National School of Drama festival following protests by Yuva Morcha with the police escorting the "Ajoka" theatre group from Pakistan out of the state capital.

However, the organisers said that there were no threats to the Pakistani writers and that they should attend the festival.

"All sessions would be held as per schedule in the presence of all guest authors," said Sanjoy Roy, producer of the festival.

However, according to reports, police has also assured the organisers safety of the writers.