Animosity grows

Pakistan on Friday said that last minute hitch on Indian side led to a deadlock in the process of preparing a road-map for the resumption of Composite Dialogue between the two countries. Addressing a news conference after certificates distribution ceremony of 29th specialised training course of Foreign Service officers, Foreign Minister Mehmood Qureshi said that he did not know what happened between the night and the following morning.
Indian side seemed to have the problem of mandate as it repeatedly contacted New Delhi during the talks. The Foreign Minister said the Indian side wanted to be selective and did not want to have discussion on Kashmir, Siachen and regional security.
He said that India was not mentally prepared for the resumption of dialogue with Pakistan. "India must understand Pakistan concerns," he said adding that a narrow-minded approach would not be fruitful. "Talks must be substantive and result-oriented," Qureshi said and added that Pakistan wanted at the end of talks a final road-map for resumption of Composite Dialogue.
A visibly dejected Qureshi said there was no problem from Pakistani side but Indian side did narrow the scope of talks. He said Pakistan's attitude remained positive in the dialogue process and it was genuinely interested to move forward with sincerity. Qureshi said that if his counterpart, Indian minister for external affairs SM Krishna, considered that there were limitations in his mandate for talks, then Pakistan would wait but Indian side was required to show seriousness in resumption of the dialogue process.
"We are ready to negotiate with India but we are not in a hurry," he said adding that Pakistan is ready to negotiate on all issues with India and had already shown flexibility for a forward movement and expected the same from India. Qureshi said that trust deficit must be reduced. "Initially talks were conducive," he said, expressing his surprise over the overnight change in the mood of the Indian delegation.
The foreign Minister said that the Indian side was more serious on the issue of terrorism and so was Pakistan as "it too is a victim of terrorism" but could not ignore atrocities in the held Kashmir. "It is unfortunate that India wants to discuss the issue of terrorism making it a specific issue for the talks ignoring the other important issues," Qureshi said. Replying to questions, Qureshi said Pakistan understood the complexity of the issues and was ready to move forward with an open heart.