India says ready to discuss all issues with Pakistan
Responding to Pakistan's urge to discuss Kashmir and other issues, India today said it is ready to talk about everything but the process has to be a graduated one as all matters cannot be "exhausted" in just one sitting. Eight points of Indo-Pak composite dialogue
Responding to Pakistan's urge to discuss Kashmir and other issues, India on Monday said it is ready to talk about everything but the process has to be a graduated one as all matters cannot be "exhausted" in just one sitting.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna also replied to his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi's contention that he would not visit India for "leisure" trip, making it clear that his invitation was for "serious" discussions.
"We have decided that we will talk everything but it has to be a graduated talks between the two Foreign Ministers. We just cannot in one sitting exhaust all the subjects regardless of how complex these subjects are," he told Times Now news channel.
He was responding to a question on Pakistan's insistence that Kashmir and other issues should be brought on the negotiating table.
"They (Pakistan) seem to be very focussed on so many other issues as much as we are focussed on terror, terror-based instrumentalities and terror-based approach to solve any problem between our two countries," he said.
Asked about Qureshi raking up the Kashmir issue in his meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Krishna reiterated India's position that the two countries are capable enough to talk to each other on the issue.
On whether he would have a pull-aside meeting with Qureshi on the sidelines of an international conference in Kabul on Tuesday, Krishna said he did not know whether the time will permit him to talk to his Pakistani counterpart as he has scheduled meetings with Clinton and a few other leaders.
"It is not even 48 hours since I came back from Islamabad or 52 hours may be. We have had meetings and there will be a number of ocassions where our talks will run into and there is a possibility of picking up from where we left," he said.
"But, I would love to talk to him," he said.
He said his invitation to Qureshi to visit India "still stands".
On Qureshi's contention that he would not visit India for a "leisure trip" and there should be something substantive to discuss, Krishna said "nobody is going to another country for bilateral talk for a walk or for a tour of for sight-seeing. I was in Islamabad and I did not do any sightseeing.
"So, whenever we confront each other or we will meet each other we always talk serious business about bilateral relationship," he said.