Talks will focus on terrorism and hurting issues:India to Pak

Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Feb 6 (PTI) India has told Pakistan that the
proposed talks with it will focus on terrorism and other
issues "hurting" bilateral relations and has given no
indication about the full-fledged resumption of the stalled
composite dialogue process.
When Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao telephoned her
Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir about a week ago to
propose foreign secretary-level talks, she made it clear that
the parleys would focus on terrorism and other issues that are
"hurting relations between the two countries," official
sources in the Foreign Office here told PTI.
Rao said India would even be willing to discuss
differences on the sharing of river waters, they said.
The waters issue has emerged as a major irritant between
the two sides in the past few years, with Islamabad accusing
New Delhi of choking the flow of rivers. India has denied the
charge.
However, the sources said Rao gave no indication during
the conversation about the full-fledged resumption of the
composite dialogue, which was put on hold by New Delhi in the
wake of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
The sources characterised Rao's stance as a "conscious
effort" to not even refer to the composite dialogue process.
Following the contact between the two Foreign Secretaries,
Islamabad asked its High Commissioner to New Delhi, Shahid
Malik, to meet Rao to seek clarifications on the content and
agenda for the proposed talks. PTI