Pak says bracketing Saeed with talks `counter-productive`

Lahore, Feb 24 (PTI) On the eve of the Indo-Pak Foreign
Secretary-level talks, Pakistan Wednesday said that India's
demand for handing over of JuD chief Hafiz Saeed, the
mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, should not be bracketed with
the parleys as it would be "counter-productive."
"In my view it is better not to view this (tomorrow's
talks) from the point of success or failure. Let's wait till
tomorrow. There will be more clarity on this tomorrow and
we'll take it from there," Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir
told reporters here in reply to a question before leaving for
New Delhi.
Bashir will hold talks with his Indian counterpart
Nirupama Rao, who is expected to raise the issue of terrorism
during the meeting.
On India's demand for handing over of Saeed, he said
Pakistan's stand was very clear "on these issues, on
counter-terrorism and other problems."
"There is only one way -- the first thing is that the two
sides had agreed in Sharm-el-Sheikh that terrorism is a common
problem. That is, the threat of terrorism is both to India and
Pakistan as it is to other countries of the world," Bashir
said.
"In my view, there is great clarity that bracketing
these specific issues with the talks is counter-productive."
Responding to a question on India's alleged interference
in Balochistan and whether he would raise it during the
meeting, Bashir said all this is part of counter-terrorism and
if that issue is raised Pakistan will discuss this matter. PTI